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Young Christians Calendar

A daily meditation for young Christians

June 2025

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Monday, June 30, 2025

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“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30).
Yesterday we saw how God brought judgment upon the Jews for rejecting their Messiah, but this whole world will fall under judgment too. After the Lord has come and taken every true believer home to be with Him, it seems that the prosperity of the world will continue for a short while. People will go on with life and business as usual. Satan will certainly have some lie to explain the disappearance of so many people!
But then judgment will fall, just as it did when Lot went out of Sodom. What an awful thing this is, and it will happen, just as Sodom and Jerusalem were destroyed. How important it is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior now, so that we will not fall under this judgment!

Sunday, June 29, 2025

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“And His disciples came to Him [the Lord Jesus] for to shew Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them…there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1-2).
The temple referred to here was built by Herod, and took 46 years to complete. Although not as beautiful as Solomon’s temple, yet it was very costly and impressive. In today’s verse the Lord Jesus predicted that it would be totally demolished.
When the Roman general Titus came against Jerusalem in the year A.D. 69-70, he gave strict instructions that the temple was not to be harmed. But when some of the Jews took refuge in it, a soldier threw a firebrand into it, and it caught fire. Everything combustible burned, and all the gold melted. When it melted, it ran down between the stones, and later, when everything had cooled down, the soldiers pulled all the stones off each other in order to get at the gold. The Lord Jesus’ words were fulfilled to the letter!
It was God’s judgment on the Jews for rejecting their Messiah, and for refusing to listen to the apostles and others who preached the gospel to them after the Lord Jesus was risen. How solemn!

Saturday, June 28, 2025

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“And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterward he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether” (Exodus 11:1).
Here we have, not Pharaoh’s final offer, but rather the Lord’s final judgment, or plague, on Egypt. Our verse today does not say exactly what it was, but later in the chapter we find out that it was the killing of all the firstborn of every family in Egypt, and all the firstborn of cattle. When this happened, not only would Pharaoh allow the Israelites to leave, but he would tell them that they had to go. What does this mean today?
There are many times when this world wants to attract us as Christians, and they will make all kinds of adjustments to arrange this, without letting us separate completely from them. But when we bring Christ in, and His claims, then the world does not want us. They will tell us to go.
When the firstborn were all killed in Egypt, the Israelites were safe because they put the blood of a lamb on the door. This is a picture of the death of Christ, and His blood being shed for us. The world does not want that, and will want to get rid of us.
We should not be surprised at this, for if they rejected the Lord Jesus, they will reject us too, if we are truly faithful to Him.

Friday, June 27, 2025

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“And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed” (Exodus 10:24).
Here we see another one of Satan’s tactics. It seems that Pharaoh never got tired of making suggestions that would allow the children of Israel to sacrifice unto the Lord, yet keep them connected to Egypt. This time he allows everyone to go, but they were to leave their flocks and herds behind in Egypt. Pharaoh knew that because of this, they would have to come back to Egypt.
As we said yesterday, flocks and herds would speak of our work, our business in this world. It was necessary for the Israelites to keep cows, sheep, and goats, and it is necessary for Christians to work and support themselves in this world. But once again, Moses refused to allow this arrangement, for all that we have must be looked after in a way that would honor the Lord, and not according to this world’s ideas.

Thursday, June 26, 2025

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“And he [Pharaoh] said…who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go…and he [Pharaoh] said unto them…go ye now that are men, and serve the Lord” (Exodus 10:8-9,11).
Here we find another suggestion by Pharaoh. This time he said that only the men could go, but that their wives and children would have to stay behind. Once again Moses refused this plan, and made it clear that their young and old must go, their sons and daughters, and all their cattle too. God does not want families to be separated, and some to honor the Lord, while the rest live in the world. Our families and also our business (pictured in Israel by the cattle) must all be done to honor the Lord, rather than being handled according to the principles of this world.
In our story in Exodus 10, Pharaoh would not allow this, and as a result, God brought further plagues upon the land of Egypt.
Let us remember this lesson, and not give in to Satan’s suggestions that try to connect us with this world.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

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“And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away” (Exodus 8:28).
Here we have another plan of Satan. Pharaoh was willing to let them go outside the land of Egypt, but not very far away. This might seem to be a little better than actually being in the land of Egypt, but again, they would be close to Egypt, and under the influence of Egypt.
This is a picture of a Christian who really wants to please the Lord, but who also wants something of this world too. He goes outside of this world and its system, but does not go very far away. As you can see, this is not a good thing, for we are still under the influence and power of this world.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

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“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land” (Exodus 8:25).
You will remember how the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that he let the people of Israel go and sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness. In the course of a number of days, God sent ten different plagues upon the land of Egypt, the last one being when the firstborn of every house was killed.
In today’s verse, and in the next few days, we will look at the various proposals Pharaoh made to Moses, all of which came short of allowing the people to go without any conditions. All of these proposals were Satan’s way of keeping the Israelites as slaves in Egypt.
In today’s verse, Pharaoh wanted the children of Israel to sacrifice in the land of Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world, and this idea is a picture of Christians living worldly lives, and trying to honor the Lord while going on with the world. Moses wisely refused this proposal of Pharaoh, and made it clear that they could not sacrifice in the land of Egypt.

Monday, June 23, 2025

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“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13).
As you can see, I have quoted only part of the verse here in Matthew 13, for we want to focus on this particular sentence, and on the word “hypocrites.” If you read the whole chapter, you will find that the Lord Jesus uses this sentence seven times in referring to the scribes and Pharisees, who were the Jewish leaders. He was very stern in speaking to them, because of their wrong ways.
Do you know what a hypocrite is? It is a person who puts on a false appearance, and who pretends to have certain good qualities that he/she does not have. The Jewish leaders were like that; they taught the people the right things, but they did not do those things themselves. They found ways of getting around what the Jewish law required, and yet pretended to be keeping it.
It is a good lesson for us, for God does not like those who pretend to be what they are not. Let us be upright with God and with one another. Let us not be hypocrites!

Sunday, June 22, 2025

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“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).
Here we have the most precious and intimate prayer in the whole Bible, for it is the Lord Jesus praying to His Father just before He went to the cross. Many of the things mentioned in this prayer have to be felt rather than explained, but here in our verse today the Lord Jesus confidently tells His Father that He had finished the work that the Father had given Him to do.
As to time, the cross was still ahead of the Lord Jesus, but as a divine Person, He could look upon something in the future as if it were already completed. Only God could do that. Also, He was the only One who could say that He had finished the work that was given Him to do. We too have the privilege of serving the Lord, but none of us can say, at the end of our time in this world, that we have finished the work God has given us. As a perfect man, the Lord Jesus did this. What a wonderful example God has given us in His beloved Son!

Saturday, June 21, 2025

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“Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17).
“Render therefore unto Caesar the thing which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
The Jewish leaders thought that this question would be impossible for the Lord Jesus to answer, but the Lord used great wisdom in His answer, and also reached their consciences. When they showed Him the tribute money, it had Caesar’s image on it, just as our money has the image of our leaders on it. Since the Romans were in power, it was only right that they had to pay taxes to Caesar.
But why were the Jews in that position? Why did the money have Caesar’s image on it, and why were the Romans ruling over them? It was because they had not rendered unto God the things that belonged to God. The Israelites had been unfaithful to the Lord, and for this reason He had allowed them to be under the rule of foreign governments. Now the Lord Jesus was there as their Messiah, and once again they were not rendering to God what belonged to Him. The Lord Jesus was the Son of God, and they would not recognize Him for who He was.

Friday, June 20, 2025

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“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none…for the fashion of this world passeth away” (1 Corinthians 7:29,31).
This is an important day for my wife and me, for it is our wedding anniversary! As I write this in 2023, we have been married 53 years, and by the time you read this, if the Lord has not come, and we are both still alive, we will have been married 55 years.
It is wonderful to enjoy the marriage relationship, but our verse for today says something rather strange. It tells us that since the time is short, we are to be as though we did not have wives. What does this mean?
It does not mean that Christian husbands are to neglect their wives, so that they do not care for them, and enjoy them. Rather it means that we are to live and move in the light of eternity, and not just for time. We can enjoy happy times together naturally as husband and wife, but if that is all that we enjoy, it will not last for eternity. What is done for the Lord will last, and we are to remember this.

Thursday, June 19, 2025

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“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).
When I went to university, I had many discussions with my classmates about the things of the Lord. One of them told me that he wanted to study the whole subject of God, and eventually arrive at a conclusion that satisfied him. I read this verse to him, and told him that all the studying he could do would never find out all about God. God must reveal Himself, and He has done this through His Word, and through His Son Jesus Christ. It is impossible to know about God unless He chooses to tell us about Himself. How wonderful it is that He has done so!
God wanted to have a relationship with us, His creatures, and sent His Son to reveal Him. Then the Lord Jesus went to the cross and died for us so that we could be brought back into a relationship with God. Before sin came into this world, man had a relationship with God, but sin spoiled it all. Now we can know God in a way that we never knew Him before.

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

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“As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man” (Proverbs 27:19).
At first glance this verse might seem a bit confusing, but it is really quite simple. Before the days of good mirrors, people often polished copper to make a mirror for themselves, and sometimes simply looked into still water. What they saw was of course the image of their own faces.
It is the same with our human hearts; they are all the same. Your heart, my heart, and the hearts of everyone else, are all naturally the same. When we look at someone else who is doing something bad, we are seeing only the reflection of our own natural hearts. They are wicked hearts, ready to do evil, and we must remember that. Referring to yesterday’s verses, we may be surprised that the Jews would choose a man like Barabbas to be released from prison, and would condemn the Lord Jesus. How could they do that? But unless God had touched our hearts, we would have done the same thing. God tells us in the Bible that “the carnal mind is enmity [hatred] against God” (Romans 8:7). Without a work of God to give us new life, we would all reject the Lord Jesus. How thankful we should be that we have been brought to Christ, to have new life in Him, and to know and love Him! But once again we ask the question, Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

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“And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him [Pilate] to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? …But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them…And they cried out again, Crucify Him” (Mark 15:8-9,11,13).
It was evidently only a few days between what we talked about yesterday, and what is described in today’s verses. At one point the people were ready to praise and honor the Lord Jesus, but then a few days later they could be persuaded by their leaders to cry out, “Crucify Him!” How could they make such a sudden and drastic change in their behavior?
It was because they did not recognize who the Lord Jesus really was, and more than this, they did not recognize the sinfulness of their own hearts. They considered themselves quite ready for the presence of God, and although they were happy to have the Lord Jesus heal them or feed them, they did not realize that they needed much more than this.
Pilate (the Roman governor) had a custom of releasing a prisoner to them on the occasion of the Passover, and they could choose which prisoner. This time the choice was between the Lord Jesus and a man named Barabbas, who was a murderer, a terrorist, a rioter, and a robber. The people chose Barabbas; it is hard for us to imagine! Because of their choice, the world continues to have plenty of crime in it.

Monday, June 16, 2025

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“And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way…and the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:8-9).
It must have been a wonderful sight to see the Lord Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, and with all the people shouting out His praises. Evidently many of them spread their clothes in the street so that He could ride over them, while others cut down branches from the trees and spread them in the way too. We might think that finally the people really understood who the Lord Jesus was, and were ready to acknowledge Him as their rightful King. According to verse 15, even the children took part in the celebration.
But sadly, the Jewish leaders—the chief priests and scribes, were greatly displeased, while others in the city inquired, “Who is this?” Even though many praised the Lord Jesus, the vast majority were more interested in His healing power than in recognizing Him as their King. For this reason, the Lord Jesus did not even stay the night in the city, but went out and stayed in Bethany. We will see tomorrow what eventually happened.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

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“Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even” (Exodus 29:38-39).
“The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Leviticus 6:13).
In our verses today, we see that a lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning and evening, and that the fire on the altar was never to go out. Whether the children of Israel carried this out faithfully, we do not know. But it is an indication to us of how much God the Father values the work of His beloved Son on the cross. God never forgets what the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross, and it will be remembered for all eternity.
However, the Lord Jesus has asked us to remember Him now, and He has shown us how to do it. When He instituted the remembrance of Himself with the loaf of bread and the cup of wine, He said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” He expects that every one of us who are truly saved will want to honor His request.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

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“Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons…She saith unto Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy kingdom” (Matthew 20:20-21).
As we saw yesterday, the Lord Jesus told His disciples three times that He would be crucified and rise again the third day. But it seems that at least some of His disciples wanted to have a chief place in the kingdom, and here we see James and John, with their mother, coming to the Lord Jesus and asking for places beside Him when He set up His kingdom. They had not yet understood that the kingdom would not immediately be set up, and that they would be following a rejected Christ.
At another time, all the disciples disputed among themselves, as to who should be the greatest.
This is a real warning to us, for it is easy for Christians to want to “be somebody” among other believers. This is often the case with older ones, but the tendency usually starts when we are young. Naturally we all want to be considered important, but this is a sinful thing in the sight of God. All the glory belongs to Him, and as the Lord Jesus points out to the disciples, the one who wishes to be the greatest should be the servant of all. This was the place the Lord Jesus took in this world, and we are to follow Him.

Friday, June 13, 2025

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“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again” (Matthew 20:18-19).
This is now the third time in the book of Matthew that the Lord Jesus tells His disciples about His death and resurrection. He wanted to make it clear to them what was going to happen to Him. However, they did not realize what He was saying, for their minds were still expecting an immediate kingdom on this earth. Although He had told them three times, yet they still did not really believe that it would happen.
We can be a little like this too. Sometimes the Lord speaks to us several times, perhaps through His Word, perhaps by another believer, or perhaps by His Spirit. Yet we can fail to understand, because our minds are bent in a different direction, and we do not want to believe what the Lord is clearly telling us. We will see tomorrow at least one of the things that was making it hard for the disciples to understand what the Lord said.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

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“And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah…and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28).
The whole story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a very solemn one, and one that is meant to be a warning to this world. Lot and some of his family were saved out of it, but Lot lost his wife and two of his daughters and their husbands, all because they lived in Sodom. Like the men of Sodom, Lot’s daughters and their husbands did not believe that judgment was about to fall on that city. Yet God’s word was true, and many perished because they did not pay attention to God’s warnings.
God is warning this world today in many ways, and especially with natural events such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other events over which man has no control. We can be thankful that some are listening and are coming to Christ.
In our story, Abraham was safe, for he was nowhere near Sodom and Gomorrah when the judgment fell. So also those who know Christ as their Savior will be safe when the judgment falls on this world, for we will be at home with the Lord.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

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“And Abram said to the king of Sodom…I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet [a sandal-thong], and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich” (Genesis 14:22-23).
Lot had eventually gone to live in the wicked city of Sodom, and had been taken captive in a war that involved several kings, including the king of Sodom. Abram had been used of the Lord to rescue Lot, and also the whole city of Sodom. The king of Sodom was very grateful, and wanted to give Abram a reward.
However, Abram knew how wicked the city of Sodom was, and did not want to be connected with it in any way. He would not take any reward—not even something small, for what he had done. It should be the same for us today. We may be used of God to help people of this world when they are in trouble, but we should not be connected in any way with this world. We are told to “do good unto all men” (Galatians 6:10), but we are to remain separate from this world, for it is under the judgment of God.
The king of Sodom should have realized that God was giving them a warning, but apparently they did not repent, and later God destroyed that city.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

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“And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land” (Genesis 13:7).
Lot was Abram’s nephew, and Lot had accompanied Abram when the Lord called him out of the city of Ur, and led him into the land of Canaan. It was very sad that their herdmen quarreled with one another, but why does the Spirit of God mention that the Canaanites and the Perizzites were then in the land? A verse in the previous chapter had already told us that the Canaanites dwelt in the land.
I believe that the Lord wants to remind us that whenever the people of God do not get along with one another, the world around us is watching. It was true in Abram and Lot’s day, and it is true today too. The world knows very well how Christians should act, and they can be very critical of us when they see us behaving in a wrong way. It not only brings shame to us, but also dishonors the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us remember this, and be careful how we act before the world.

Monday, June 9, 2025

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“Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Matthew 18:7).
The Lord recognized that in a world that had been spoiled by sin, offences would come. By offences the Lord Jesus meant something that would trap someone, or cause them to trip and fall in a moral way. He is speaking here particularly of children, as well as about things that might occur in our own lives, and stumble us in a spiritual way.
The Lord Jesus knew that as long as sin was in the world, these offences would come. However, the Lord is not blind to all this, and He notices those who may be the cause of these offences. He says, “Woe to that man!” God will remember what has been done to harm or take advantage of others, and surely there will be judgment for them in a coming day.
God has a special love for little children who are helpless, and who are sometimes badly treated in this world. People may cause offences against them, but God will not forget.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

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“Cursed is the ground for thy sake: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:17).
“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (Deuteronomy 27:26).
“He that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23).
There is one more judgment of God on sinful man that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered from, and that is a curse. God pronounced a curse on the ground because of man’s sin, and later pronounced two other curses under the law of Moses. A Jew was under a curse if he did not keep the law, and was also under a curse if he were hanged on a tree.
Although the Lord Jesus kept the law perfectly, He suffered under the curse of a broken law. He also was under a curse when He hung on the cross, for He was hanging on a tree. He was “made a curse for us [the Jew],” and now has “redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Galatians 3:13).
Although He was perfect, the Lord Jesus suffered under all that man suffered from, apart from sin. He took His place in this world as a man, and then suffered all that man had suffered because of his sin. Then He suffered at the hands of God to put away our sins. What a Savior we have!

Saturday, June 7, 2025

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“For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19).
Here is one more judgment that God pronounced upon man—he would have to die. He had originally been made of “the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7), and now God said that he would return unto dust when he died. If man had not sinned, he would never have died, but with sin came death, just as God had said. When God gave man the commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He told man that he would die if he did so. Now what God had said came to pass.
Again, our blessed Savior for our sakes took part in this judgment also. He died for our sins. It is true that in the grave His body never decayed, but Scripture records that He said, “Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15). Dust speaks in Scripture of desolation—a state of misery and loneliness, and the Lord Jesus felt all this keenly when He died on Calvary’s cross. He felt the isolation, as He suffered there all alone, for your sins and mine.

Friday, June 6, 2025

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“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Genesis 3:19).
Here is another part of the punishment that God pronounced on Adam, and on the human race. From that time on, man would have to sweat when he worked, in order to eat. Prior to that time, in the Garden of Eden, he had something to do—to dress and keep the garden, but he did not have to work hard enough to sweat. Now his work would be harder, and he would sweat.
Once again, our blessed Savior took part in the suffering that resulted from this punishment. In the Garden of Gethsemane, it is recorded that “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). His sweat was greater than that of any other man, for He felt very much what lay before Him. Not only was there the physical suffering of the cross, but also His being made sin for us. This prospect was so awful that His sweat became as great drops of blood. In contemplating the cross, the Lord Jesus entered into the suffering that God had pronounced upon man in the Garden of Eden.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

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“And unto Adam He said…cursed is the ground for thy sake…thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee” (Genesis 3:17-18).
When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God pronounced judgment on Satan, Eve, and Adam. We see one of those judgments in our verse today; the ground would produce thorns and thistles. If you have ever weeded a garden, or been pierced by a thorn, you know what that judgment means. In particular, thorn trees often have beautiful white flowers on them, but if you try to pick them, the thorns are right there to pierce you.
When He was on the earth, and when He went to the cross, the Lord Jesus had to deal with thorns. You will remember that the soldiers made a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and then mocked Him by bowing down to Him and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Yes, God had to pronounce judgment on man for his sin, but the Lord Jesus shared in the results of that judgment too, when He was here on earth.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

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“And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
God created man as the last thing He made, and He made him quite different from all the animals. Animals live and act by instinct. That is, their minds are “programmed” to act in a certain way; they do not know any right or wrong. But man is different. He has a mind that can think and decide how to act in different ways. He also has a spirit which makes him conscious of God, and gives him an ability to communicate with God.
Man was made in the image of God, for man was to be God’s representative on this earth. Man was given “dominion” over all the various animals—quite a responsibility! Sadly, man has not done a very good job of governing this world, for he introduced sin into the world, and has often misused the authority God had given him. But he continues to have the place of dominion in this world.
But man is a moral creature; he was also made in the likeness of God. This means that he had a nature capable of recognizing right and wrong, and capable also of having a relationship with God. Again, what a privilege it is to be made like this!

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

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“And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:2).
When you study the story of mankind in school, sometimes you may be taught that men were originally “hunters and gatherers,” living in primitive dwellings like caves, and not knowing how to grow crops and keep animals. Then they will tell you that later, men progressed and began to grow crops, keep domestic animals, and settle down in one place.
However, we do not read this in the Word of God. Right from the beginning men like Cain and Abel knew how to keep domestic animals like lambs and sheep, and how to work the ground and grow crops. However, when men gave up God, in some cases God allowed them to decline in their knowledge, and then they lived as hunters and gatherers. When man gives up God and decides to worship idols, he often loses what knowledge he has, and tends to live a degraded and a somewhat disorderly life. However, this is not what God intended for him, for God is a God of order.

Monday, June 2, 2025

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“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15).
When people think of the Garden of Eden, many think of it as a place where Adam and Eve had nothing to do, and that they were simply able to sit around and enjoy it. According to today’s verse, this was not so. It is true that none of the effects of sin were there, so that there were no plant diseases, nor were there weeds in among the good plants. Everything brought forth bountifully, and food was plentiful.
However, there was still something for Adam and Eve to do; otherwise they might have been lazy and perhaps bored. Adam was to dress and to keep the garden, so that there was some work for him to do. But there was no anxiety about it all, and no stress involved in it. It was a wonderful paradise, yet man spoiled it by disobeying the one command that God had given him.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

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“And when Herod saw Jesus…he hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him…and Herod with his men of war set Him at nought, and mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate” (Luke 23:8,11).
The Herod mentioned in this verse was the son of the Herod who had tried to kill the Lord Jesus when He was a young child. He had heard of the Lord Jesus, and knew that He performed many miracles. At one point, he even thought that the Lord Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead. When Pilate sent the Lord Jesus to Herod, he was anxious to see a miracle. But when the Lord Jesus would not answer him nor perform a miracle, he treated Him shamefully, mocking Him, and putting a gorgeous robe on Him.
Herod was curious, but He did not care for the Lord Jesus. Although all His miracles proved who the Lord Jesus was, yet Herod would not believe. A few years later the Roman Emperor took away Herod’s position and banished him to a distant part of the Roman Empire.
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