February 19

NT – The other lists for the disciples are in Matthew 10:2-4 and Luke 6:14-16. The only differences between the list is that Mark and Matthew name the disciple Thaddaeus and Luke calls him Judas son of James.
Also, I apologize right up front for this post as I have spent my evening at Children’s Medical getting Matthew’s shoulder X-rayed. He hurt it wrestling yesterday in the State tournament and was in a great deal of pain when I picked him up this afternoon from the Gwinnett Arena. He does not have a break but the muscles are either severely strained or torn. Hopefully the first one. Everything here at the McAdam ranch is a little discombobulated.

OT – 8:5-6 Per Rashi: The Sages say that Moses’ status among the Israelites was almost king. Therefore, it would have been unthinkable for him to degrade his regal standing by washing and dressing Aaron and his sons as related by the verses. Consequently, Moses informed the crowd that everything he was about to do was commanded by God.
Fast forward 1500 years and another king was washing body parts of his underlings. Just saying. Don’t skip the readings even if they seem inane.

Psalm – do you just love the lists in this psalm?
Wicked: plot against righteous, draw the sword and bow against the poor and needy, borrow and don’t repay.
Righteous: upheld by the Lord, their inheritance will endure forever, they don’t wither in times of disaster, they will have plenty in times of famine, won’t fall when he stumbles (remember the idiom there?), won’t have children begging.
Which list do you want to be on? The naughty or the nice?
It seems like in Bibleland, there is either one or the other. In real life, I would like to think there is some gray. It also seems like the wicked SET out to be bad whereas the righteous get their reward from God by doing whatever made them righteous in the first place. And then there is the Hitler in the bunker question. What if you were SS wicked all your life but repented and spent the last 60 seconds being righteous? How much righteous do you have to have to be on the nice list?

Friends, we have covered 2/13 of the Bible. Keep reading, keep pondering. Don’t give up. Also, please invite others that you know to join us. You just don’t know who needs the fellowship of knowing others are walking the same path. They can start right where we are. Genesis and Matthew will be waiting next January for them.
Have a blessed Sunday.