Live Your Dash Well—August 13 Bible Reading Plan - Denise Pass

Live Your Dash Well

We have moments in this life that define us. What will be your defining moment? Today’s reading reveals people who made the most of their 15 minutes of fame and people who didn’t. Live Your Dash Well. People can want to be famous, which really just means a lot of people know you and are in your business. And it is pressure to live to please them. But as Christians, our goal is to reveal Christ to as many as we can. And to make the most of our moments for His glory alone.

Bible Reading of the Day: 1 Chronicles 6-10

Today’s reading begins with genealogies of the Chief priests then the three clans of Levi, the musicians and Aaron’s descendants, and the settlements of the Levites in chapter six. Chapter seven details the descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Ephraim. And I found an interesting name in the genealogy of Ephraim.

1 Chronicles 7:20-24, “20 The descendants of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered, Tahath, Eleadah, Tahath, 21 Zabad, Shuthelah, Ezer, and Elead. These two were killed trying to steal livestock from the local farmers near Gath. 22 Their father, Ephraim, mourned for them a long time, and his relatives came to comfort him. 23 Afterward Ephraim slept with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Ephraim named him Beriah because of the tragedy his family had suffered. 24 He had a daughter named Sheerah. She built the towns of Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah.”

Live Your Dash Well—A Life of Significance

This was remarkable. A woman mentioned in the genealogy but also one who accomplished the building of cities. Truly remarkable in that time period. I looked up where these cities are located.

Upper and Lower Beth Horon are a pair of villages a few miles northwest of Jerusalem. The Bible first mentions them in the tenth chapter of Joshua when the Israelites enter Canaan and do battle with the inhabitants:

Eusebius (a father in church history) mentions the two Beth-horons in their Biblical contexts, noting Joshua‘s victory and the fortification by King Solomon.^[19]

Upper and Lower Beth-Horon were situated on an old road leading from Gibeon to the plain on the coast; this is mentioned in the Old Testament as a difficult and steep road between the villages of Beth-horon

Live Your Dash Well—A Legacy that Lasts

According to Bible-Atlas.org, Today these villages are sunk into insignificance and are off any important lines of communication, but for many centuries the towns occupying their sites dominated one of the most historic roads in history.

When (Joshua 10:10) Joshua discomfited the kings of the Amorites “he slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the `Ascent of Beth-horon.’ ” When the Philistines were opposing King Saul at Michmash they sent a company of their men to hold “the way of Beth-horon.”

Live Your Dash Well—15 Minutes of Fame or Infamy?

So how does this relate to us?

It’s been said we all will get our 15 minutes of fame. To Sheera, it was a verse in the Bible tucked deep in a genealogy. How will we use that time and what impact will we have for the Kingdom of God? This world can make us feel like a number, but each one of us has a divine purpose for the glory of God. Are we seeking our fame, or God’s?

Chapter 9 picks up after the exile. Today’s Scripture of  the day provides a little lesson to us in the difference in translations and getting to the meaning of a passage of Scripture.

Scripture of the day: 1 Chron.9:1

CSB: “All Israel was registered in the genealogies that are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.”

A couple of commentaries on biblehub.com said that the second half of verse 1 is referencing the inconvenience of not being able to find the registers of Judah’s people and is alluded to in Ezra 2:59. Lost records was a problem back then as it is now. The second half of verse 1 was a reminder of Judah’s captivity and also a mention of lost records because of that captivity.

Chapter 10 details the end of Saul’s King Saul’s family with the death of Saul and his three sons in a battle with the Philistines. The Philistines found Saul and his sons dead and celebrated, cutting off Saul’s head. But the brave men of Jabesh-Gilead came and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons because Saul had rescued Jabesh-Gillead from the Ammonites.

Live Your Dash Well—A Defining Lifestyle

We end chapter 10 with Saul’s moment of fame (or infamy):

1 Chronicles 10:13-14

“13 Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord because he did not keep the Lord’s word. He even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 but he did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”

Application

Friends, what will be the defining moment of your lives? For Sherah, it was rising up and being diligent in a day and age where it was difficult to do so. For King Saul, it was forgetting to be faithful to God and it impacted not just his life, but God’s people. In the recent news about Jerry Falwell’s foolish picture that he took as a joke, it cost him his job and affected a lot of people. We have got to stay awake, friends. We are crafting our legacy moment by moment – living and leaving a legacy that defines us.

• Ultimately, Christ is our identity and any mistakes we make are covered by the blood of Jesus, but today’s reading wants me to make my life matter for the Kingdom of God—how about you?
• People can want to be famous, which really just means a lot of people know you and are in your business. And it is pressure to live to please them.
• But as Christians, our goal is to reveal Christ to as many as we can.
• May we live our lives well so others can follow our Savior, too, and may we not be a stumbling block to them.
• Are we seeking our fame, or God’s?

7-Fold One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Day #226: 1 Chronicles 6-10

Scripture of the Day: 1 Chron.9:1(b)

Listen: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/1Chr.6

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