Podcast

If you’re like me, there is something you’d like to change about yourself or your life. As a society, we’re obsessed with self-improvement. As Christians, we’re committed to it. Whether it’s exercise, dieting, or Bible reading, we’re convinced we can do better if only we give it the ol’ college try. While there’s no shortage of motivation for getting started, maintaining a change or improvement is the challenge, isn’t it? We love the idea of improving, but we hate the hard work it requires. Well, we face the same dilemma in our spiritual lives too. We’re quick to make commitments to God, but our follow-through can be difficult.

Here’s a tough question…What one problem in your life, if it were solved today, would make everything better? We tend to focus on symptoms (pain points) rather than on root causes. We want to fix the problems we feel rather than what causes those problems.

When someone does us a favor, we tend to feel obligated to pay back the kindness. It’s just part of who we are. It’s gratitude. Yet when it comes to God’s favor on us, we face a debt we can never repay. So what can we do to express gratitude?

God is love. But He is more than that. The same Bible also teaches that our Lord is a God of wrath. He loves sinners, but hates sin. So how does God choose which attribute to act on—love or wrath? And how can we know if God accepts us—for sure? To discover the answer, this episode of Live the Bible takes us to a surprising place: the Old Testament book of Leviticus. (That’s no typo.)

When’s the last time you received a gift that you didn’t open? Probably never! We can’t wait to unwrap gifts that our loved ones have picked out just for us. But often, that’s exactly what we do with one of God’s greatest gifts. It’s a gift George Bailey received in It’s a Wonderful Life—and one Ruth and Naomi received in real life—in the Bible.

Think of the surprising turning points in your life. I’m talking about those random conversations, chance encounters, and off-the-cuff decisions that seemed insignificant but ended up changing the course of your life. We might chalk these moments up to coincidence, but Scripture shows us otherwise.