Daily Bible Readings for Thursday, 11 January 2007

A Rest for God's People

So then, as the Holy Spirit says,

"If you hear God's voice today,
do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were when they rebelled against God,
as they were that day in the desert when they put him to the test.
There they put me to the test and tried me, says God,
although they had seen what I did for forty years.
And so I was angry with those people and said,
"They are always disloyal and refuse to obey my commands.'
I was angry and made a solemn promise:
They will never enter the land where I would have given them rest!'"

My friends, be careful that none of you have a heart so evil and unbelieving that you will turn away from the living God. Instead, in order that none of you be deceived by sin and become stubborn, you must help one another everyday, as long as the word "Today" in the scripture applies to us. For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

- Hebrews 3:7-14

Come, let us bow down and worship him;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
He is our God;
we are the people he cares for,
the flock for which he provides.

Listen today to what he says:
"Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day in the Desert at Massah.
There they put me to the test and tried me,
although they had seen what I did for them.
For forty years I was disgusted with those people.
I said, 'How disloyal they are!
They refuse to obey my commands.'
I was angry and made a solemn promise:
'You will never enter the land
where I would have given you rest.'"

- Psalms 95:6-11

Jesus Heals a Man

A man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for help. "If you want to," he said, "you can make me clean."

Jesus was filled with pity, and reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" At once the disease left the man, and he was clean. Then Jesus spoke sternly to him and sent him away at once, after saying to him, "Listen, don't tell anyone about this. But go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered."

But the man went away and began to spread the news everywhere. Indeed he talked so much that Jesus could not go into a town publicly. Instead, he stayed out in lonely places, and people came to him from everywhere.

- Mark 1:40-45

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