Consider this

            “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).               Chances are that you, or someone that you know, owns something (a picture, a plaque, a bookmark) with that verse inscribed on it, because, for centuries, it has inspired people to live their life differently.   By breaking it down into its component parts, we will see more clearly the truth that it teaches.             “This is the day”.   It is tempting to dwell on the past wishing that we could relive or redo some aspect of it, but it is gone!   Similarly, it is easy to get caught up in fretting about what might happen in the future.   However, if anything is going to get done, it must be done “today”.   “This is the day” is an important phrase because it reminds us th...

            Sometimes what a verse does not say is just as important as what it does say.   Take 1 Peter 2:25 for example.   It says, “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls”.   In context, the “shepherd and overseer” to whom they have returned is Jesus, or, more broadly, God.   That is important, but so also is what Peter does not say.             For instance, he does not say that the lost sheep were returned to a certain preacher or teacher.   Unfortunately, that sometimes happens.   People go to a certain church because they like the leader, but when he leaves, so do the people.   Sometimes people are so devoted to a certain author that they quote him as if they were quoting the very word of God.   This, however, is a problem.   When people in the church in...