Reading: Matthew 4:12-17, Acts 5:1-16, Psalm 8, Genesis 21-23

Recall:
Psalm 8:3-5
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
  Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.

Genesis 22:1-2
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

Acts 5:5
Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard of it.


Reflect:
So, we're created a little less than the angels and crowned with glory and honor. BUT, you better not screw up or you'll drop dead. OR, God might want to test you and ask you if you're willing to sacrifice your son.

Tough words, challenging words. Why are they here? Both of these passages have always baffled me. That can be good if I take the opportunity to ponder them. I'll have to live with these for a bit today, see what bubbles up.

Respond:
God, you are, in many respects, unknowable. What would cause someone to imagine that you required the sacrifice of his child? Or that someone could drop dead for lying about the price of a field?

I can never stop spending time with scripture, spending time with God.