Category: Verse for the day

“The Lord’s way is not fair!” –Ezekiel 18:25 When someone, even God, acts in a way contrary to our standards, we claim that the person is unfair. When we begin to see how God does things, we move toward the conclusion that God’s thoughts and ways are very different than ours (Is 55:8-9). Then we are tempted to “say, ‘The Lord’s way is not fair!’ ” (Ez 18:25) One of our standards is to “rest on our laurels,” to take it easy after we’ve already worked hard. This standard may be acceptable in some cases, but it is never acceptable...

“When the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast.” –Jonah 3:5 The 120,000 citizens of the bloody city, Nineveh (see Na 3:1), repented, fasted, and were saved from destruction (Jon 3:10). After fasting, the army of Judas Maccabeus was saved from what appeared to be certain death (1 Mc 3:17ff). Likewise, after fasting, Jehoshaphat’s army was saved from destruction (2 Chr 20:2ff). After Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people fasted (Est 4:16), they were saved from ethnic cleansing. Jesus, our Savior, has saved us through His death on the cross. The Lord has called us to accept our...

“In your prayer do not rattle on like the pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer multiplication of words. Do not imitate them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” –Matthew 6:7-8 Prayer is a conversation with God. Since He is by far the wisest One in the conversation, we are well advised to spend a large portion of our prayer time listening to Him. His voice is often a still, small voice (see 1 Kgs 19:12ff). God’s voice is heard clearly in the Scriptures, His Word. Like rain, His Word descends on...

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, then returned from the Jordan and was conducted by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where He was tempted by the devil. During that time He ate nothing.” –Luke 4:1-2 Lent is a march with a destination of the renewal of our baptismal promises at all the Easter Sunday Masses in the world. Jesus’ forty days in the desert prefigure Lent. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert (Lk 4:1), where He fasted for forty days (Lk 4:2) and refused to doubt that He was the beloved Son of God the...

“Honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice.” –Isaiah 58:13 On Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, we received ashen crosses on our foreheads. On the second day of Lent, Jesus told us to deny ourselves, if we wished to become His disciples (Lk 9:23). On the next day of Lent, the Lord warned us that we would ruin our fasting, if we carried out our own pursuits (Is 58:3). Today, on the fourth day of Lent, the Lord promises we will receive many blessings from fasting, if we do not follow...