January 7, 2016

Happy New Year to All.
Top ten lists abound at this time of year. Indeed, many of you might feel inundated by them. However, let me add a top ten list of my own, a list of the ten most “liked” (on Facebook) of my responses to the American Bible Society Daily Bible Reading of the day. By way of context, it is my practice to read the Scripture for the day and post a short, 140 characters or less, response on Twitter and Facebook. My intent in posting is not to say “here is eternal truth” but to encourage my readers to read the text and formulate their own personal responses.

10. Malachi 1 – For people of faith giving is not an afterthought, serving is not a matter of “when it is convenient.”
9. Psalm 95 – Worship is not applause for an insecure deity. Rather, it is connection to a caring Creator.
8. James 4 – As we live this day give us the grace to discern what to hold lightly and whom to hold tightly. Amen.
7. Psalm 73 – We pray not for the destruction, but the transformation, of those who “wear pride like a necklace and violence like a robe.”
6. Psalm 7 – Loving God, have mercy on us for we, of all your creatures, are prone to undermine our own well-being. Our own traps, they catch us.
5. Luke 21 – Jesus saw little reason to trust either the revered religious establishment or the feared political apparatus of his day.
4. Luke 1- There are many true things that can be said of God but at the top any such list is God’s abiding commitment to lift the poor.
3. Psalm 84 – So many in our world live in a state of siege. Our prayer, our work, is to build a world where all live in a place of sanctuary.
2. Psalm 98 – The Holy One establishes justice and practices forgiveness. To this One my Beloved and I are grateful on this our 37th Anniversary.
1. Jeremiah 31 – Loving our children, teaching our children, reading to our children, singing to our children will not go unrewarded.

You can find the daily reading at dailybible.americanbible.org. You can find my daily reflections by friending me on Facebook or following me on Twitter @revjimhop.
Peace,
Jim H.
And after I put the column together this post received a high number of likes: John 1 – When I watch my kids parent my grandkids John’s words, “The one coming after me is greater than I,” come to mind. They are good at what they do.