Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."[James 4:13-15]
The article said that seniors had better "brace themselves."
It was enough to get me to read more.
In short order I was told that some U.S. hospitals are now giving the "death test" to seniors who desire admittance. The death test was invented in Australia and considers 29 different criteria, things like blood pressure, respiratory rate, medical history, to decide whether a patient should be hospitalized, go to hospice, or be sent home to die.
Those who support the use of the test say it has numerous advantages, including
1. it prevents needless and expensive procedures;
2. it may allow people to spend their last days with loved ones;
3. it makes life easier for the hospital staff when they have to break "the bad news."
Well folks, I've taken a look at the test. There can be little doubt that a great deal of thought has gone into producing such a fine, working document. Having done so, I have two questions I would like to have answered:
1. If the test is accurate in its predictions, shouldn't it be given to people of all ages and not just those who have a few years under their belts?
2. Why should the elderly be the only ones who are given the joy of going home to die with loved ones?
Just how accurate are the predictions of the death test? If it's not real, real -- real near to 100 percent -- then I maintain it's probably ... you should excuse the expression, a "dead issue."
Truth is I don't need an "expert" telling me when I'm going to die, especially when there's a good possibility that expert is wrong.
No, I think James had the right idea when he wrote, "... you do not know what tomorrow will bring. ... you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'" Those of us who have been saved by Jesus' sacrifice -- who are sure the Lord is watching over us -- are content to live our days in the Lord's care, letting Him decide their number, and how our actions during those days will glorify Him and be a witness to our neighbors concerning Jesus' love.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, long or short, few or many, let my days be lived out giving praise to You and thanks to my Savior who is blessing me now and forever. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
The article said that seniors had better "brace themselves."
It was enough to get me to read more.
In short order I was told that some U.S. hospitals are now giving the "death test" to seniors who desire admittance. The death test was invented in Australia and considers 29 different criteria, things like blood pressure, respiratory rate, medical history, to decide whether a patient should be hospitalized, go to hospice, or be sent home to die.
Those who support the use of the test say it has numerous advantages, including
1. it prevents needless and expensive procedures;
2. it may allow people to spend their last days with loved ones;
3. it makes life easier for the hospital staff when they have to break "the bad news."
Well folks, I've taken a look at the test. There can be little doubt that a great deal of thought has gone into producing such a fine, working document. Having done so, I have two questions I would like to have answered:
1. If the test is accurate in its predictions, shouldn't it be given to people of all ages and not just those who have a few years under their belts?
2. Why should the elderly be the only ones who are given the joy of going home to die with loved ones?
Just how accurate are the predictions of the death test? If it's not real, real -- real near to 100 percent -- then I maintain it's probably ... you should excuse the expression, a "dead issue."
Truth is I don't need an "expert" telling me when I'm going to die, especially when there's a good possibility that expert is wrong.
No, I think James had the right idea when he wrote, "... you do not know what tomorrow will bring. ... you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'" Those of us who have been saved by Jesus' sacrifice -- who are sure the Lord is watching over us -- are content to live our days in the Lord's care, letting Him decide their number, and how our actions during those days will glorify Him and be a witness to our neighbors concerning Jesus' love.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, long or short, few or many, let my days be lived out giving praise to You and thanks to my Savior who is blessing me now and forever. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Genesis 39-40; Matthew 21:23-46
660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
____________________________
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Genesis 39-40; Matthew 21:23-46
Genesis 39: Joseph’s rise and betrayal
1 When Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chief officer, the commander of the royal guard and an Egyptian, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man and served in his Egyptian master’s household. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful. 4 Potiphar thought highly of Joseph, and Joseph became his assistant; he appointed Joseph head of his household and put everything he had under Joseph’s supervision. 5 From the time he appointed Joseph head of his household and of everything he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. The Lord blessed everything he had, both in the household and in the field. 6 So he handed over everything he had to Joseph and didn’t pay attention to anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.
7 Some time later, his master’s wife became attracted to Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
8 He refused and said to his master’s wife, “With me here, my master doesn’t pay attention to anything in his household; he’s put everything he has under my supervision. 9 No one is greater than I am in this household, and he hasn’t denied me anything except you, since you are his wife. How could I do this terrible thing and sin against God?” 10 Every single day she tried to convince him, but he wouldn’t agree to sleep with her or even to be with her.
11 One day when Joseph arrived at the house to do his work, none of the household’s men were there. 12 She grabbed his garment, saying, “Lie down with me.” But he left his garment in her hands and ran outside. 13 When she realized that he had left his garment in her hands and run outside, 14 she summoned the men of her house and said to them, “Look, my husband brought us a Hebrew to ridicule us. He came to me to lie down with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment with me and ran outside.” 16 She kept his garment with her until Joseph’s master came home, 17 and she told him the same thing: “The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us, to ridicule me, came to me; 18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment with me and ran outside.”
19 When Joseph’s master heard the thing that his wife told him, “This is what your servant did to me,” he was incensed. 20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him in jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were held. While he was in jail, 21 the Lord was with Joseph and remained loyal to him. He caused the jail’s commander to think highly of Joseph. 22 The jail’s commander put all of the prisoners in the jail under Joseph’s supervision, and he was the one who determined everything that happened there. 23 The jail’s commander paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s supervision, because the Lord was with him and made everything he did successful.
Joseph interprets dreams in prison
40:1 Some time later, both the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief wine steward and the chief baker, 3 and he put them under arrest with the commander of the royal guard in the same jail where Joseph was imprisoned. 4 The commander of the royal guard assigned Joseph to assist them. After they had been under arrest for some time, 5 both of them—the wine steward and the baker for Egypt’s king who were imprisoned in the jail—had dreams one night, and each man’s dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph met them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. 7 He asked the officers of Pharaoh who were under arrest with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so distressed today?”
8 They answered, “We’ve both had dreams, but there’s no one to interpret them.”
Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Describe your dreams to me.”
9 The chief wine steward described his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine right in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. When it budded, its blossoms appeared, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, crushed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 Joseph said to him, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three branches are three days. 13 After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and return you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just the way things were before when you were his wine steward. 14 But please, remember me when you are doing well and be loyal to me. Put in a good word for me to Pharaoh, so he sets me free from this prison. 15 I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and here too I’ve done nothing to be thrown into this dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “It was the same for me. In my dream, there were three baskets of white bread[a] on my head. 17 In the basket on top there were baked goods for Pharaoh’s food, but birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18 Joseph responded, “This is the dream’s interpretation: The three baskets are three days. 19 After three days, Pharaoh will give you an audience and will hang you from a tree where birds will peck your flesh from you.”
20 The third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a party for all of his servants. Before all of his servants, he gave an audience to the chief wine steward and the chief baker. 21 He returned the chief wine steward to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had said would happen when he interpreted their dreams for them. 23 But the chief wine steward didn’t remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.[Footnotes:
Genesis 40:16 Heb uncertain]
Matthew 21:2 Jesus’ authority questioned
23 When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him as he was teaching. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I have a question for you. If you tell me the answer, I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. 25 Where did John get his authority to baptize? Did he get it from heaven or from humans?”
They argued among themselves, “If we say ‘from heaven,’ he’ll say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But we can’t say ‘from humans’ because we’re afraid of the crowd, since everyone thinks John was a prophet.” 27 Then they replied, “We don’t know.”
Jesus also said to them, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.
Parable of two sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. Now he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29 “‘No, I don’t want to,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
30 “The father said the same thing to the other son, who replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he didn’t go.
31 “Which one of these two did his father’s will?”
They said, “The first one.”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom ahead of you. 32 For John came to you on the righteous road, and you didn’t believe him. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Yet even after you saw this, you didn’t change your hearts and lives and you didn’t believe him.
Parable of the tenant farmers
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. 34 When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35 But the tenant farmers grabbed his servants. They beat some of them, and some of them they killed. Some of them they stoned to death.
36 “Again he sent other servants, more than the first group. They treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and we’ll have his inheritance.’ 39 They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”
41 They said, “He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?[a] 43 Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on.”
45 Now when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard the parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46 They were trying to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.[Footnotes:
Matthew 21:42 Ps 118:22-23]
The Lutheran Hour660 Mason Ridge Center Dr.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States
1-800-876-9880
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment