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Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-16 LXX

But the righteous live forever,
And their reward is with the Lord;
And their care is by the Most High.
Therefore they shall receive a kingly dwelling of dignity
And a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord,
Because He will shelter them with His right hand
And protect them with His arm.

Encouraging Words

Why do we who choose to be followers of Christ live our lives the way that we do? Why do we pursue righteousness when all around us appears to be the opposite of this virtue? Why do we attempt to do good deeds, love our neighbor, give of our time and possessions, and be contrary to the ways of the world? First, and foremost, it is because we love our Lord and are grateful for His love for us and his saving grace and mercy. It is out of this gratitude that we feel compelled to serve and honor Him. He is our salvation! He is our fortress! He is our help and hope. But we also pursue righteousness and do good deeds for Him because we know, and hope, that we are investing in our future live with Him throughout eternity. We will live forever. Our reward is in Him and He will give us His care. He is preparing a place in His heavenly mansion for us. He holds our crown in His hands. We are faithful with that which we have in this life knowing that He will be faithful in the life to come. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Solomon 4:2 LXX
When virtue is present, people imitate it,
And when it goes away, they long for it.
Throughout one’s lifetime,
Virtue leads the struggle for undefiled prizes,
Wearing a crown and conquering.

Personal Challenge

There are two ways for me to apply this verse to my life. First, who am I trying to imitate? Is he, or she, virtuous and showing me the right way to live my life? Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, admonishes them to imitate him because he is imitating Christ. This is why we who practice Orthodoxy are always remembering the Saints so that we can imitate them. The second, is who is imitating me? Is it my children or other family members. Is it my coworkers? How about the youth in my Sunday school class or others at my church? Is my life worthy of being imitated? Is it virtuous? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-2 LLX

Love righteousness, you who judge on the earth.
Think about the Lord in goodness
And seek Him with sincerity of heart;
Because He is found by those who do not tempt Him,
And He is manifest to those who do not disbelieve Him.

Encouraging Words

Can we truly find God in our lives? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” Unfortunately, we often seek Him on our terms, expecting Him to show up in our lives the way that we want. Here we are reminded that we must approach our God from a heart and mind focused on goodness and sincerity. What this means is that I come to Him, seeking Him, on His conditions. I am the one who is lost and unclean, not Him. I am the one who must desire Him and pursue Him. And the result? He will always be there. He will always pour out His love and mercy. Glory be to God!

3 Maccabees 3:3-5

The Jews, though, maintained their goodwill and unswerving faith toward the throne. But because they worshiped God and lived by His precepts, they kept themselves separate from others with regard to food, and therefore appeared hateful to some. But they adorned their way of life with the good deeds of righteous people, and thus established themselves as honorable to all men.

Personal Challenge

Some things in history never change. In the days of the Maccabees, they were looked down upon and often hated because they had strong values and beliefs that they were unwilling to compromise. Even though their faith also drove them to do good deeds and to be righteous people, they were looked upon as being intolerant and exclusive. Does this not still happen to Christians today? We have a standard by which we choose to measure our own lives. We choose to give up the things of the world for the things of heaven. And we too are driven by our faith to be charitable to others and to strive for righteousness. And because of this we are labeled as intolerant and exclusive. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

2 Maccabees 8:18 LXX


“For they trust in arms and bold acts,” he said, “but we trust in Almighty God, who with only one nod is able to overthrow both those who come against us and the entire world.”


Encouraging Words


People often wonder how can a person have the ability to give up their lives, whether physical or literal, for the God that we believe in. The truth is that we do not have the power to do this on our own power. They do it by the power of Who we believe in, the Almighty God. It is this belief, and more importantly, the object in which we put our belief, that gives us our strength.

2 Maccabees 6:24-28 LXX

“For to pretend such things,” he said, “is not worthy of our time of life, lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to a foreign religion, and because of my pretense for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray through me, while I earn only pollution and defilement in my old age. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die, I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age, and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and bravely for the venerable and holy laws.”

After he said this, he went straight to the rack,

Personal Challenge

How important is my integrity to me? Would I be as strong as Eleazar in the face of death to stand firm on my convictions and profess my commitment to my Lord? It is easy to say, “Yes!” to this question when I am not really being threatened with the loss of my life or that of a loved one. Maybe the real way to determine the answer to this question is to observe how I behave every moment of every day. Do I put Christ first and do all that I do I order to magnify Him? Do I show unconditional love to my neighbor, starting with my wife, children, grandchildren, and other family members and then proceeding out to all others, especially the unlovable? Do I practice what I preach about being a Christian? Giving up my life for Christ does not always, if ever, happen in a life threatening situation where I live. It happens every moment I am alive.

1 Maccabees 3:59-60

For it is better for us to die in war than to look upon the evils the Gentiles would bring to us and the sanctuary. But as God’s will is in heaven, so He will do.

Personal Challenge

The Maccabees were faced with a dilemma in their day that is not a whole lot different than what we face today. The world around them, those forces that wanted to destroy that which their faith was in, was pressing in on them and merging into their culture. They had a choice. Let their world, their traditions, their beliefs, be watered down and eventually erased by the world or stand firm and fight for their God. This is no different than what is going on in our day and has for centuries. The Christian Church is expected to conform to the world, to be transformed by the world, and to forsake our beliefs and traditions for the “good” of mankind. This is what we are militant against. We should be willing to defend our Church and her beliefs and traditions to our death. This is taking up our cross and following Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Judith 9:11 LXX

For Your might is not in numbers, nor Your power in men who are strong, but You are the God of the lowly; You are the helper of the oppressed, the defender of the weak, the protector of those who are forsaken, the savior of those without hope.

Personal Challenge

God’s true nature seems to have been forgotten by those of us who claim Him as our Lord today. We look to Him to raise us up, to put our “Christian” leader into a position of authority, to rescue our country, to wield His sword of justice and righteousness and eliminate “our enemies, and to be at our beck and call. But as I read this verse and the text around it, as well as recall the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, I become more deeply aware that my God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a humble God. He is a loving God. He is a merciful God. And in that humility, love, and mercy He is the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the defender of the weak, the protector of those who are forsaken, and the savior of those without hope. So, based on this, if I desire God to be active in my life should I not become humble, lowly, oppressed for Him and my neighbor, weak, and hopeless in anything but Him? Glory be to God!