Bible Friday 12/8: Hard Heart, Hear This

Studying this morning's readings from the St. James Daily Devotional Guide (click to subscribe), I examined myself with these questions. Where is your self-examination leading today?

Psalms 95:1-11. Verses 7-9, what are some symptoms of a hard heart that God commands me to watch for and correct? What corrective will he provide me?

Revelation 17:!-6. How does the image of Babylon, alluring but deadly, whore of the nations, translate into our modern world and its all-devouring culture? Am I at all vulnerable to it? What’s my defense?

Matthew 5:27-32. Verses 29 and 30, amputation or hell. Have I ever faced the awful choice that Jesus imposes here? Am I even now trying to avoid that choice in an ongoing situation? Or didn’t Jesus mean it?

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To go deeper, see interpretive notes by Bible scholar Patrick Reardon for many of this week's readings.