The Ten Commandments:
Commandment VII

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

When you are married, you are only to have sexual relations with your spouse. No problem, right? Oh, and along the way, your commitment will be challenged on every side. I forgot to mention that part, didn't I? The media, politicians, co-workers and other so-called "role models" are getting on the bandwagon that it's OK to dabble in promiscuity. I even heard that Kobe Bryant's shoes may start selling better now that he's been authenticated by his fiasco! Is there something wrong with this picture? At least Mark Chmura isn't preaching his godliness to the world any longer, but he did his damage before leaving football.

In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus Christ said that if we look upon a married women to the point of lusting after her, we have already committed adultery with her in our heart. That really hits close to home! Where do you draw the line? Is noticing that a person of the opposite sex is attractive a bad thing? No. But when you lust after her in an unhealthy way, you need to make it right with God through prayer. Your body is the temple of Christ, and that includes your mind.

Yours in Christ,

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They say a man is as good as his word. Does that mean that the leaders of Israel were worthless? Actually, it does! They gave their word to the Lord that they would be faithful and they broke their vow. They made a vow to Babylon and broke that vow as quickly as they could! Babylon was the world power of the day while Egypt was waning. Israel's power was all but nonexistent, or rather their power was punishing them and had determined that they were to be destroyed. From what I've read, I doubt Egypt would be able to succeed in a battle against Babylon even if Israel were teaming up with them, but that's where Israel turned for their help. I shake my head in amazement at their guile!

There's another change in this passage. In times past, the son would carry on the sins of a father and it was acceptable to repent for the sins of others. Job did this for his for his sons (until they were all killed in Job's test of faith). Now, the righteousness of the individual was the barometer of their rewards. That's big because now we are not crippled by the doings of our parents. Sure, their parenting skills do play an important role in childrens' lives, but we have the choice of just how much this will affect us. That choice is made every day in who you decide to follow. As God says, "Repent and Live!"

Day 2

So this prostitute of a nation now wants to inquire of God for their deliverance, huh? God repeated their nationwide sins in this reading and remarked that even as they were on the edge of the abyss, they still defiled themselves with idolatry. For generations, God had been patient with them for His own sake, but enough was enough. God's plan was to devastate them and then rebuild them into a nation that would listen to him after learning from their mistakes. They were beyond correction. The potter had to push the clay back to a shapeless lump so it could be recast into the useful vessel it was meant to be.

As an object lesson, let's take a quick look at Jerusalem's sins here and compare them with our own. The leaders misused their power over the powerless. Parents were treated with contempt and their healthy lessons were ignored in favor of sinful pleasures. Holy days and items were desecrated. Their "sexual renaissance" was in full swing. Unjust money was everywhere to be stolen from those who trusted the good will of others. The fear of God was nonexistent. Does any of this sound like a society you have heard of?

Day 3

You know you're in trouble when your clergy can't distinguish between right and wrong. I'm not trying to pick on any particular religion here, but there has been a recent rash of certain religious leaders committing the most horrific sins. Openly homosexual priests and ministers are fighting to retain their duties and their congregations are helping them. Israel was in bad shape at the time of this story, but our era has absolutely no room to judge them. How much better are we really than them? Zilch. Zero. Nada. And the sad thing is, all God would have to do to punish us is lift His protection and let us do it on our own. The enemies of Israel judged her against their standards that Israel rushed to adopt, so there is precedence for this.

Some people think that being judged by their actions would be a fine thing, but this story is a perfect illustration to show that we really don't want that. That's all the more reason to turn to Him. You don't have to be perfect; you just need to accept His blessing. It's not even a matter of how you want to be redeemed. It's a matter of utmost necessity and I'd be very cautious of anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

Day 4

Sometimes the lessons we have to learn are tough. Sometimes the teaching methodology is harsh. Sometimes we just don't think it's fair. All of these thoughts went through my mind when I read about the death of Ezekiel's wife. And then to top it off, he was told not to mourn his loss. This all had a point, though. The Lord was to take a husband's role, providing for His wife, the Israelites. When their temple was destroyed, they were not to mourn it, using Ezekiel as a role model. I won't lie and tell you that I understand why the man's wife had to be destroyed, but I won't argue with the lessons of God, either.

Here's another interesting story. Originally, any Jews who sold themselves into slavery were to be freed after a seven-year time of servitude. King Zedekiah had all of the slaves freed, but they were just as quickly enslaved again. This was enough to enrage God even further. It's not said why the sudden changes occurred. Perhaps they were being released to fight, but their services were wanted after they were released. Indecisive leaders are the worst of the worst. They tend to go with the safe course of following their people, rather than God, who demands righteous decisions from a strong leader.

Day 5

Talk about a showing of faith here! The city was under siege and it wasn't looking good. To top it off, Ezekiel had some "inside information" that the city would be burned to the ground. God told him to purchase land for hard currency. That silver would have come in handy to an exiled Jew, but what did he do? He purchased land that was slated for devastation. And why would he do such a thing so soon before the land would lose his value? For one, God told him to. For another reason, this land was not permanently destroyed, for God had already planned to return it to Israel. This land purchase was a sign that the fortunes of the Jews would be restored, as would their land. A simple description of faith is "Believing is Seeing" but Ezekiel was told to put his money where God's mouth is, and that is always a wise investment.

Day 6

Tyre was a beautiful city with riches to rival any nation at that time. Looking at the rundown of their trading partners, they had influence over the world due to their economic strength. The problem God had with them was their pride. God had a big problem with their godlike self-image and when God sees fit to expel you, your days are numbered by His timeline. Let this be a lesson in humility to us all!

Another lesson in this reading has to do with loyalty. I got the impression that Zedekiah was trying to escape the city in the middle of the night in a move that would leave the people leaderless. The army fled in the night and Zedekiah was captured by the pursuing Babylonians. Let's see here. They were chasing an army that came out to flee, not to fight. When they caught up with their prey, king Zedekiah was among them. Yes, I believe he was deserting. What a coward! He had been told to hand himself over, not run. Because of this, his sons were slaughtered, his eyes gauged out and he was imprisoned until the day he died. Good.

Next came the flames that took the city, just as God had promised. Also true to the promise, there were poor people left behind to care for the land. When the Lord decrees something, it happens. No detail is left out either. Praise be to God, because there is a detail I'm counting on to see me to glory when my time on this world is at an end, and that is one detail that I know will not be overlooked!

Day 7

I almost feel bad for talking like this, but finally we see some fruition to what God had been warning the Israelites about for... oh... since before the exodus from Egypt. They had turned from God unless they were in the worst peril for so long, generations! Now after Ezekiel and Jeremiah had given the bluntest warnings the time was truly come and Jerusalem was destroyed, with everything happening exactly as God told them it would.

One mention here, and this is something that may seem trivial, but I don't think it is. The land enjoyed 70 years of Sabbath. In the original covenant, the Jews were to work their fields and vineyards for six years and let the ground replenish itself on every seventh year. In that year, the fruits that would grow anyway would be more than enough to feed the people. If this land enjoyed 70 years of Sabbath, how long had it gone without one? I don't think the Bible really says, but I imagine it was like this for all of the years that Israel had turned from God.

Weekly Link Lose at the Game "20 Questions" For the last few weeks, I've been highlighting sites that have some sort of purpose. Sites that are useful and get you answers to the questions you have. We're going to take a little break from that idea this week with a site that has a game that we have all played at one time or another. "20 Questions" is a staple of growing up and if you don't remember it now, you will once this site reminds you of it. It's uncanny how this site can find the answer! You just think of something... anything... and answer the simple questions the website asks you and within the allotted 20 questions, it will know what you're thinking of. Try to stump it! if you are able to do so, tell me what you were thinking of, because I haven't found anything that will beat this site at it's own game. http://www.20q.net/

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Thanks for sharing my goal of reading the Bible in its entirety this year!