THE LORD SPOKE (August 22)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Psalms 90-94

Did you hear about the man who, praying to God, said, “Lord, I know that with you one day is like a thousand years. So, maybe, could you just give me a hundred dollars to help me pay my bills.” The Voice came back, “Sure, just wait a couple minutes.”

Time. What a precious commodity! Every one has exactly the same amount. You can’t store it up. You can’t buy more of it when you run short. You can’t ever get it back if you waste it. But you can use your time wisely. You can redeem it. You can make it count for eternity.

Moses, the author of this psalm, had a lot to say about time. He tells us (Ps. 90:10) that we can normally expect to have 70 years of time or maybe 80, if we’re strong. Moses actually had more than his share of years but spent a lot of them waiting for things to happen. He lived 120 years - forty growing up in Pharaoh’s court and learning the wisdom of Egypt, forty waiting in Midian and learning the wisdom of the desert, and forty wandering in the wilderness and learning to walk with God. The proper Hebrew greeting on a birthday today is, “ad meah ve’esrim”, which means, “may you live to 120” just like Moses.

Take a look at all the descriptors for time found in this psalm: “all generations” (Ps. 90:1), “from everlasting to everlasting” (Ps. 90:2), “a thousand years...like a day just gone by” (Ps. 90:4), “a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:4), “morning...evening” (Ps. 90:6), “all our days” (Ps. 90:9), “the length of our days” (Ps. 90:10), “they quickly pass...fly away” (Ps. 90:10), etc. Do you remember how slowly time seemed to crawl when you were young? At first you were proud to say you were “four-and-a-half years old”. Then it took forever to get to the magical age of 13. In high school and college the difference of one year between you and your sweetheart felt like robbing the cradle or stealing from the grave. Then before you knew it college was over, you were married, and the kids were starting to grow up. Next thing they were gone to college themselves and you had an empty nest again. Where did the time go?

Moses helps us check our spiritual clock repeatedly in this psalm. He reminds us of God’s timelessness and, therefore, why it’s so important for us to see things with eternity’s values in view. In Ps. 90:12 he says, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” His concluding petition is that our effort and use of time would have been worthwhile; that God would, in fact, “establish the work of our hands” (Ps. 90:17). Isn’t that what you want? To come to the end of life and feel that it really was worth it after all. Like pennies and dollars, taking care of the minutes will help you take care of the hours that God gives you in this life.


New Testament: I John 4

John used the word “love” a total of 43 times in this little epistle and half of them are right here in chapter 4. The term is notoriously hard to define so you come up with things like “war affection based on kinship or personal ties” when you look it up in a dictionary. Not very satisfying. Not much better than the one a 12th grade veteran of life gave his 9th grade friend: “Love is the feeling you feel when you begin to feel a feeling you never felt before.”

John doesn’t give us a dictionary definition of “love” but he describes and explains love in theological terms because ultimately all true love springs from one Source. Because God is the author of all being, every attribute and every verb begins with Him. (Adverse attributes and verbs are simply the negative image of His positive qualities.)

Twice John brings the discussion to a crescendo when he says, “God is love” (I Jn. 4:8,16). He clarifies this by adding these observations:

• “love comes from God” (I Jn. 4:7)
• “God showed his love” by sending His son (I Jn. 4:9)
• any love we might know or show has come from Him (I Jn. 4:10)
• “we also ought to love one another” (I Jn. 4:11)
• love is the evidence that “God lives in us” (I Jn. 4:12)
• in the end, we must “rely on the love God has for us” (I Jn. 4:16)
• that love produces confidence and drives away all fear (I Jn. 4:18)

He brings it all together by stating plainly that the only way we can know or demonstrate love ourselves stems from the fact that He first loved us (I Jn. 4:19). And then comes the conclusion: “whoever loves God must also love his brother” (I Jn. 4:21).

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav’n, to earth come down!
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion;
Pure, unbounded love Thou art.
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Finish then Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee.
Changed from glory unto glory,
Till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise.