Skip to main content

Obadiah, Short and Sweet


Obadiah, what a fun name to say!  It actually means the servant of Yahweh.  This is a very short book of the Bible.  It is actually only one chapter.  Edomites are the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother.  They live in a “rock fortress” and have made their home “high in the mountains” (v3).  The Israelites inhabit Jerusalem at this time and, as usual, someone is attacking them.  Instead of coming to the aid of their relatives, the Edomites laugh and scoff at the Israelites and gloat in the fact that Israel is being taken over.  The book is a prophesy about how Edom is going to be destroyed for their actions against Israel. 

Some could read this book of the Bible and say, okay, I am done, but if you have read any of my other blogs, you know that isn’t how I roll.  When I was reading this book, I realized, how often do we act like those that can’t be touched?  We stand by while other Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ, are attacked because we don’t want to be associated with them.  (I actually thought of the Westboro Baptist Church when I was reading this.  They are that “church” that protests soldier’s funerals, the Sandy Hook Elementary funerals etc…  They are “Christians” that are tearing down, not standing up for their brothers and sisters in Christ.) 

Do we want to be someone that stands up and says “who can ever reach us way up here?” (v3).   Would you say “we are so good in God’s graces that nothing bad could ever happen to me”; or “I am so much better than that person, and that person”; “I would never put myself in those kind of situations”.  The truth of the matter is, we are all human, and we all make mistakes.  If we help each other through those mistakes and assist our brothers and sisters in Christ when they are suffering through these or are being attacked from no cause of their own, then we are being the people Christ wants us to be.  If instead, we sit back and watch and laugh at the people going through that and make ourselves so high and mighty, we are in for ruin. 

My prayer today is that when I see a person suffering, that I don’t stay in my comfort zone, in the rock fortress that I have made for myself.  Instead, I want to be the person that leaves that fortress to assist and aid the person that is hurting, the people that need help.  I pray that I don’t get so caught up in my own life and my own routine, that I can’t see the suffering around me and try to help those that need it. 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What do you fight about?

I heard a blood curdling scream from the other room, followed by the cries of my other child and then a smack.   I had been sitting at the computer, and leaned my head back closed my eyes, took a deep breath and went to encounter the argument head on.   Apparently my youngest daughter was playing with a stuffed giraffe that my oldest daughter sometimes sleeps with.   Amidst the crying and tears, I was able to formulate the events that took place.   My youngest daughter had gone to the toy room and gotten the giraffe (a green 16” giraffe with brown spots) out of the room and brought it into the other room.   Here, the older sister saw that the coveted giraffe was not in her room and grabbed it from her sister.   The younger one screamed and bit the older sister who then cried and hit the little sister.   As I took another cleansing breath I began dealing with the issue at hand.   It is very difficult to reason with a 2 and 3 year old and let alone ...
2 comments
Read more

do I mis-use the Bible?

WOW!   This morning I sat and started to read through Ecclesiastes.   I don’t know if the author of Ecclesiastes, Perhaps King Solomon, had a very sarcastic view on life or if he was just babbling.   But I can definitely see how this book could get a lot of people into trouble if they don’t know the full book or continue to read.   There are verses in there that say things like; eat, drink and enjoy the days on earth because they are meaningless, it is good to enjoy your time on earth and do not worry about anything. To get the full meaning of the book, you need to read it all- the true gems are the last two verses.   This book was written by someone (according to my study Bible) that was near the end of his life, he sees man in pursuit of so many things and vainly pursuing hopes and expectations- but faith teaches him that God has ordered all things according to his own purposes and that we need to accept our limitations.   The last two verses are the wr...
3 comments
Read more

Trust

I decided to do the whole “open your bible and see what verse pops out to you” today.   This it the first verse I saw and it was awesome!   God is so good! Proverbs 29:25 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” I can’t tell you the number of times I haven’t said something to someone because I worried about what they would think of me.   I haven’t gone up to someone, obviously hurting, because I didn’t want them to reject me.   I haven’t shared the gospel even though the opportunity presented itself.   I have hoarded a project to myself because I wanted it done just so.   The other night when I was giving my talk to the MOPS group, I was able to share the gospel with them.   It was fantastic for me.   I don’t know if any of them accepted Christ, but it felt so right sharing the gospel.   Jesus calls us to make believers of all nations, He doesn’t say, only if you feel like it.   It is so ea...
1 comment
Read more