Do You Dance with Your Bible?

Today’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Nehemiah 10
NT: Luke 9
W&W: Psalm 49


Today’s Reflection:

Yesterday I preached at Mount Sterling (Ohio) Church of the Nazarene. My first preaching in several months. I was worried that I wouldn’t remember how to preach. (Lana was worried that I wouldn’t know how to stop preaching!) Since that church has two services (8:30 and 10:30), I got back into it in a big way. What an enjoyable day! The people at Mt. Sterling really enjoy their worship. I felt comfortable in the presence of God’s people, praising Him!

I preached yesterday from Nehemiah 8, the account of a great day in the history of the people of God. As you read this chapter, you will notice how the people of God responded to God’s Word:

• They were ready and receptive to hear the Word (8.1-3).
• They responded with respect and reverence to the Word (8.5-6).
• They repented over their sins but returned to rejoicing (8.9-12).
• They reacted to regulations with obedience (8.14-18).
• They returned to remember the grace of God (9.1 ff).

This incident in the history of Israel was the event out of which the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Torah) grew. In Simchat Torah, observant Jews attend synagogue services to remember and thank God for the Torah (The Law – The first 5 books of the Bible) to live by. The service is marked by rejoicing and dancing before God to display great love for appreciation of the Word of God. The question that comes to my mind is this: “Do I dance with my Bible?”

Do we, friends, as Christians dance with our Bibles? Shouldn’t we?


This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Isaiah 53.6-7: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.