Living in the Spirit

October 19, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
   The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
   He will judge the peoples with equity.’
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
   let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
   before the Lord; for he is coming,
   for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth. –Psalm 96:10-13

Right now, it does not seem like the world is firmly established from climate change to two major wars. Countries seem to be dueling to determine who can kill the most first, fighting over what? Land and who owns it. Perhaps they are seeking retribution for ancient infringements. After we kill thousands of innocent people, including children, what have we accomplished?

The Bible is full of stories of ancient people acting similarly. Yet, woven throughout that Holy Scripture is the wisdom of God and how we can live together in a firmly established world from Moses receiving the Ten Commandments through prophets warning all regarding how to live in sync with God’s plan for us even to sending God’s son to model a way of life built on love. Jesus went so far as to give his life for our redemption. God in grace resurrected Jesus Christ, who instructed us again on the need to love one another and left us with the Holy Spirit to help us along the way.

As we humans debate the finer points of such things as climate change and war, we forget that God is judging the whole world regarding our care of it, including its occupants. We need to give greater heed to the last sentence of the above scripture:
 He will judge the world with righteousness,
   and the peoples with his truth.

Prayer:  Lord, open our hearts and minds to see and follow your righteous ways. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.