October 7

OT -- Jeremiah 8:8-9:26
Really, really awful stuff.
I was discussing what I was reading with another Bible scholar who is very conservative in her faith beliefs. Her approach to the prophets was not doom and gloom and that God was not vindictive. It was that God was a RIGHTEOUS being and He had had enough of the terrible crimes that His people had committed against Him.
Just another thought.
As for me, I find Jeremiah to be another hard slog and terrible, terrible condemnation of a group of people. And maybe there was no one who was at least of 'normal' unrighteousness. But I have to think that there was. Which is why I find this whole section so disturbing. What about you?

NT -- Colossians 3:1-17
Oh, here is a list to counteract the prophets. And Paul says that salvation is an INDIVIDUAL choice. Not a corporate. So even if the world is crashing down because the king was bad, WE still have the choice to behave like Christ would have us behave:
with compassion, kindness, humility (my big problem....), gentleness and patience.
And over it all is supposed to be -- not duty or because it is a checklist -- LOVE.
This is a nice section and one I badly needed to hear.

Proverbs 24:27
Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

Solomon,speaking like the farmer he is. Don't have your crops in the ground in the right time? You will go hungry and probably die. You are not likely to die of exposure in Israel.