Lead:

It’s fitting that episode 1000 is one of the most gripping stories of the Old Testament — the one in which Isaac is to be sacrificed by Abraham.

Intro:

I have tears even as I write this. I will remind you — again, for some of you — that in 3 Jn, John writes to some dude named Gaius and tells him that those who support missionaries are co-workers, co-missionaries, too. I might have the microphone, but I am not alone.

Here’s what I know you’re participating in.

Biblical literacy is at an all-time low. And this explains why, according to the latest research that the majority of even self-professed Christians don’t have a biblical worldview. It means they evaluate and live in culture, but are likely to interpret the Bible by that culture rather than seeing culture through the lens of the Bible.

And I’ve been there.

You may or may not know this, but I royally suck…at doing anything regularly. The super boring stuff like taking my vitamins? Nope. Part of being self-employed means that it’s rare that two days look the same. I want to be consistent, but it just doesn’t happen. So it is with great pleasure that I give the glory to Jesus for today, the 1000th time I’ve recorded the Bible into a microphone. I pray you’ll permit me a wee bit of opening essay.

This podcast is not as clean as some podcasts who spend time in post-production polishing. It’s not as organized as a pastor who spends the whole week preparing for a sermon. But it’s showing up. It’s about having spiritual food every day like we have physical food every day. With you.

Some of you know my story and some of the crazy I’ve been through, probably more of you don’t. Some of that crazy I brought on myself, and some of it was dumped on my by life and others with bigger issues than me.

I spent the first half of my life trying to earn love by trying to be the smartest guy in the room, and by the world’s standards I had plenty of moments in the spotlight— being named the world’s leading expert in a topic, selling a bunch of books, getting called on by notable people.

But I’m here to say that there’s nothing I like more about my life than when I had a born-again-again moment that came out of total submission to God.

It is also with great pleasure that I give you credit, too. For helping me take care of business. From my music sponsor, The Dandelion Project to those of you who have donated and wish to remain anonymous, to those who show up by sending notes, to those who never show up but you just listen. Thank you.

As we get to our reading today, I want to prayerfully read a quote to you from Matthew Barrett’s book, God's Word Alone---The Authority of Scripture, praying that this is our heart as students, as ambassadors, and Jesus’ hands and feet.

The search for knowledge often results in an ironic conclusion: we come to realize just how much we don’t know. Such a quest exposes our ignorance while manifesting God’s omniscience. In that light, whenever we come to the biblical text of Scripture, we must approach it with humility. Should we encounter what appears to be a problem passage, rather than assuming fault lies with the biblical author, we should assume we do not yet know enough information that would enable us to read the text correctly. We are finite individuals, and often what seemed like a contradiction at first is easily resolved later with further study.(1)

May we make 2020 a year of humility. Boldness. Persistently sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening, even when we don’t understand fully. Remembering that God, infinite in every way, humbled Himself to speak to us knowing in all eternity that us wrapping our finite minds around His awesomeness would never happen without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and even then we’re not going to understand it all. Knowing that every day we will face the temptation to be gods of our own lives, tell Him what He means instead of asking Him what He means. And trusting that, as God of all, His way of revealing Himself is actually the best possible way He knew to do it. For our good.

And with that, let’s listen to Him.

Sponsor:

Would you kindly give a shout out somewhere? Thanks for spreading the Word.

Old covenant:

Passage: Genesis 21-23
Translation: NCV (New Century Version)
Verses: 78
Words: ~1848

Wisdom:

Passage: none today
Translation: NCV (New Century Version)
Verses:
Words:

New covenant:

Passage: Mark 8
Translation: NCV (New Century Version)
Verses: 38
Words: ~804

Commentary:

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

(1) Matthew Barrett, God's Word Alone---The Authority of Scripture (The Five Solas Series) (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2016) 318, Kindle.

#1000: Genesis 21-23 | Mark 8