ANOTHER LIST

You will get to read this the weekend after I have my knee replacement—needless to say, I would not be very equipped to write a serious essay while on pain meds!  This time, I want to offer you a “Top Ten” list of favorite Scripture passages that both challenge and console.  They are in no particular order.  And:  this list is certainly not “exhaustive”—I have other passages that I lean on and love!

#1—Revelation 21:1-7.  It doesn’t get much better than the vision of the new heavens and new earth, of healing and peace.

#2—Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Don’t we all long for a chance at a new beginning and forgiveness?

#3—Romans 8:31-39.  The ultimate promise of our security:  NOTHING can separate us from God’s love.

#4—Colossians 1:24. Our suffering is somehow part of Christ’s suffering, and it is part of the plan of redemption God has for us all in Christ.

#5—Isaiah 1:10-20. It is a supreme and majestic call to reject empty pieties that are simply going through the motions, and instead to be people concerned with justice.  If you don’t like this one, feel free to check out Isaiah 58:1-12 instead.

#6—Mark 8:29a. I am not concerned with Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question; the issue is “What is my answer to that question?”  It is the central point of the entire of this Gospel.

#7—Psalm 93. The image of God being “more glorious than the surgings of the sea” always comes to mind when I am walking along the beach in Destin.  Perhaps this Psalm is why I love to walk on the beach in Destin...

#8—I Samuel 16:7. The LORD looks into the heart, so there is no possibility for masquerades that make a difference.  People might think we are all that, but God knows the truth.

#9—Micah 6:6-8.  So simple, so straightforward—and so challenging a path to pleasing God.

#10—Hebrews 5:7-10.  There is no more awesome description of discipleship than to know that Jesus was heard and His prayer was not answered—and that it worked out the way it was supposed to and needed to, for our sake.


This is a start.  Why not consider making your own list of comforting and challenging Scripture passages?  You might take or toss some of mine; your list will be yours.  And I think I would be correct in guessing I’d have a lot of agreement with your lists, too.