Living in the Spirit

June 21, 2021

Scripture Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24 
because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
For righteousness is immortal.

for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,
but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.

I have trouble imagining a world without death. Life and death, creation and re-creation are the norms of the plant world—plow, plant, water, harvest, collect seeds, plow, plant, and so forth. This scripture begs the question of who created the devil? I usually do not invest much time in the theoretical. Reality is challenging enough.  When I started these daily devotions, I committed to delving into the scriptures provided in the Lectionary because I think we need to study the whole Bible. Thus, I reread this.

I realized that if these words originated with Solomon, they were written a thousand years before Jesus came to the earth. Yet the words immortal and eternity are words we relate to Jesus the Christ. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the devil corrupting Adam and Eve. And we return to the idea of free will and God’s desiring that we choose to do righteousness.

I must say I do like the phrase the generative forces of the world are wholesome. There is much hope in those words, and our world needs hope right now.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when my mind just does not get the truth of the scriptures. Help me discern what is essential for me to serve you the way you want me to serve. 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.