Sirach 20:5-7

There is a man who is silent but is found to be wise,
And there is a man who is hateful because he talks too much.
There is a man who is silent because he has no answer,
And there is a man who is silent because he knows when to speak.
A wise man will keep silent until it is the right time to speak,
But an arrogant and undiscerning man will speak out of turn.

Personal Challenge

I guess this is another way of saying, “Silence is golden.” There is wisdom to be found in being silent, to listen more than we speak, and to listen before we speak. I know that my personal challenge is to let the other person finish before I speak. When this passage states that a wise man will keep silent until it is the right time to speak, but an arrogant and undiscerning man will speak out of turn cuts deep to the core of this issue. To love my neighbor means to put them first, to let them speak and complete their thoughts, to listen with the intent to understand the other, and speak lovingly when it is my turn. For all whom I have spoken over in my haste to be heard, please forgive me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Romans 6:11-12

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Personal Challenge

Many of the verses leading up to this passage inform us of all the work that Jesus has done to save us from the consequences of our sin. Now, Paul starts turning the spotlight on us and begins to point out those things that we can start doing with respect to sin in our lives. He reminds us that since we have been baptized into Christ that by faith in Him we can identify ourselves as dead to sin. Sin no longer has reign over us because Jesus has defeated sin. If we continue to sin, which we usually do, it is because we continue to submit our will to the lusts, the passions, of our mortal body. From baptism on we are continually working on fortifying our will to obey God and trying to diminish our will to defy God. The Christian life is a continual struggle to follow in the footsteps of our Lord. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Sirach 18:18-20

Before you speak, learn,
And before you get sick, take care of your health.
Before you make a judgment, examine yourself closely,
And in the hour of visitation you will find atonement.
Before you become sick, humble yourself;
And at the time of sinning, prove your conversion.

Personal Challenge

Once again, Sirach provides some powerful words of wisdom that apply to both our everyday living as well as preparation for eternity. Learn before you speak. This is so contrary to our modern, self-focused Way of thinking. Oh, how many times I would have avoided a conflict by applying this truth. Take care of yourself and humble yourself and you will avoid sickness. The first one makes sense, but what does humbling ourselves have to do with avoiding sickness? The act of humbling ourselves puts others first. By doing this We eliminate stress on our bodies and our health by always trying to be first. Examine yourself closely before making a judgment and you will find atonement. Jesus proclaimed this by saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Usually, the act of self-appraisal reminds us that we are in no position to judge another. Great words of wisdom. Now comes the hard part, applying them. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Romans 5:20-21

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Encouraging Words

“Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more”. What a blessing it is to know that no matter how much I sin, no matter how big or small that sin is, God’s grace will outweigh that sin. God loves me that much and then infinitely more. Sin is what brings me to death, both physical and spiritual, but Gods’ grace removes the spiritual death and covers me through eternity. It is not anything related to what I do, but all related to what God has done continues to do and will do forevermore. Glory be

to God.

Sirach 18:4-6

Who will measure His majestic power with a number,
And who will add to this measure
While describing His mercies?
There is no one who can add or subtract,
And there is no who can search out the wonders of the Lord.
When a man completes his search, then he starts over;
And when he stops, he will still be perplexed.

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to get caught up in the pursuit of knowledge about God. We truly are a gnostic form of society today. For many, knowledge is power. For many, their identity is found in their knowledge, or the number of acronyms behind their name. However, knowing God is so much different than all of this. God does not want us to know about Him. He wants us to know Him. That is what all of the wisdom writings of the Old Testament teach. Wisdom is personified in Jesus. To know wisdom we must know Jesus. To know Jesus is to know God. The challenge for us finite and limited human beings is that the more we think we know God the more we realize that we do not know Him. His greatness is beyond all that we could ever comprehend and yet He tells us that He dwells within us. The mind is certainly blown apart when it tries to know God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Romans 5:12-13

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Personal Challenge

The Eastern Orthodox Church views this passage so much different than the Western Church does. Adam and Eve sinned. They defied God and chose to disobey His commandment to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Because of their sin, they were clothed in mortal bodies by God and death was introduced into the lives of mankind. This is what we, as the children of Adam and Eve have inherited, death. As mortals, we live in a fallen world and in fallen bodies, so we sin as well. We do not inherit the sin of Adam and Eve. On the contrary, we choose to sin on our own. Where the law enters into the picture is that until Moses introduced God’s law to the Jewish nation, our sin was hard to measure. in some respects, People did not know that they were sinning because there was nothing to measure it against. We have the law, both of Moses and of Jesus, so we have no excuse as to the gravity of our sin, but we also have Jesus who fulfills the law and paved the way for us to follow in His footsteps toward avoiding sin in our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Sirach 17:24-25

How great the mercy of the Lord is,
And His atonement for those who turn to Him.
For all things are not possible for man,
Because a son of man is not immortal.

Personal Challenge

Nothing that happens in life is about us. Every­thing in life really is about God. God is our creator and He created us to be in a relationship with Him, not the other way around. He is our benefactor and Savior and we are lost and hopeless without Him. His mercy abounds above all else in our lives and He is our atonement. We can do nothing without Him for we are mere mortals, however, all things are possible for Him. God is my hope and my salvation. Glory be to God!

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Encouraging words

Is this not the ultimate definition and demonstration of total and unconditional love? Jesus knew while he was headed to the cross that He would not only be giving up His life for those who loved Him and desired to be like Him, but also for everyone that would reject Him and all of us who continue to sin day after day. Jesus died for us even as we were still mired in our sins. That is true love. There is no judgment in that love. There is no rejection in that love. So what should be my response to this love? Receive it. Pass it on to others around me. Live my life in a way that honors and respects that love by trying to sin no more. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!