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Overview
Trail Thoughts is an introduction to daily biblical reading and reflection. Starting with Genesis, this spiritual guide will take readers throughout the entirety of the Bible over the course of a year, ending with the Book of Revelation as the year comes to a close. Trail Thoughts includes a Biblical passage for each day of the year and a thought-provoking response to help readers begin or continue their own journeys of faith.
Author Eric Kampmann has hiked over 1,300 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and sees hiking as a metaphor for the experience of living life. He is the author of several other Christian-living books including Signposts: Seeking God's Wisdom, The Lord is My Strength, and Getting to Know Jesus: An Invitation to Walk With the Lord Day by Day.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780825306433 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Beaufort Books, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 01/06/2008 |
| Series: | Daily Biblical Wisdom for Life's Journey |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 416 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
trail thoughts
Daily Biblical Wisdom For Life's Journey
By Eric Kampmann
Beaufort Books, Inc.
Copyright © 2008
Eric Kampmann
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8253-0580-1
Chapter One JANUARY 1
Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, both low and high, rich and poor alike: My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle.
Psalm 49:1-4
LISTEN
At the center of our pilgrimage through this strange and mysterious world are a series of timeless questions: How did we come to be? Were we born for a reason? Are we on the right path? What is the larger meaning of our lives?
The Bible provides real answers, but not necessarily in a way we have been taught to expect. More than a book of ancient history or a book of rules and regulations, the Bible is a story that has a beginning but has not yet come to an end. It is a book filled with a vast array of people-some who are heroic, some who are scoundrels, and some who are quite ordinary-but all of whom represent the valleys and peaks of the human condition.
The Bible speaks of our beginnings-of the tragic choice that broke our relationship with the one who created us-and of the long and arduous journey toward the freedom that would release us from the consequences of that choice. And as we come to know the epic story that ties the depth and breadth of the entire Bible together, the more we realize that we need to listen closely to what it is telling us about ourselves.
Listen, therefore, as the Word fractures the preconceptions of worldly knowledge and wisdom. Listen as the Holy Spirit begins to speak to you through the Word of God. Listen as your heart and your mind open up to a world that includes God rather than excludes Him.
Be still and open and ... listen.
JANUARY 2
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16
A MATTER OF FAITH
When David says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," (v14) he is not giving himself credit; rather he is marveling at the glory of God's creation as embodied in the form of the creature God made in his own image. (Genesis 1:27) David's wisdom grows out of knowing that without the creator, there would be no creature to praise. Man without God is little more than a sophisticated brute, capable of unlimited barbarity.
David has another view of man: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." (v13) David is one the great men of the Bible; he was a warrior, a poet and a king, but despite all of this, he did not forget where his great gifts came from. Without God's blessings, he is nothing. He understands that at the heart of wisdom is mystery and at the center of mystery is God.
There are real limits to our ability to know, but no limit to our ability to believe: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." (Psalm 139: 6) Though knowledge is important, salvation is not a function of knowledge. It is a function of faith.
JANUARY 3
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
Job 1:6-8
WILL WE TURN AWAY?
Who, at some point in life, has not experienced a bad thing? And who, if you probe deep enough, does not think of himself as a genuinely good person? So why should it be surprising when an afflicted person cries out against the injustice of God?
At first glance, Job would seem to fit this description perfectly, but throughout the time of his suffering, he never claims to be a man without sin. In fact, it is God who claims that Job is "... blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (v8) While terrible things come to afflict Job, including the deaths of his children, the loss of his wealth and the pain of disease, the core question is whether or not Job will lose patience with God, blame Him and forsake Him.
Loss of faith and betrayal are central facts in the Old and New Testaments and understanding Job's crisis is crucial to understanding our own response to crisis. Will we remain faithful, no matter what? Will we humble ourselves before God no matter what the circumstance? Or will we turn our backs on God, rejecting Him in anger because we have come to believe that He has not been faithful to us?
JANUARY 4
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
-Psalm 1:1-3
WALKING THE STRAIGHT PATH
Life has been compared to a journey with many paths. This sounds very inclusive, but it is not biblical. David tells us that it is just as easy to "walk in the counsel of the wicked ..." (v1) as it is to walk in the way of the Lord. We set off on a journey armed with map, compass and book, only to become utterly lost by taking a wrong turn here or by not paying attention there. If we want to stay on the straight path, then we must delight ... "in the law of the Lord and on his law meditate day and night." (v2)
The right way is not an easy path; we are called to exercise wakefulness and exert effort. The wisdom of the Lord requires that we seek the Lord in everything we do: "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6) Otherwise, we will wander alone on a trackless path with no hope of ever finding our way back to where the Lord always intended us to be. A journey may have many roads, but only one leads to the Lord, for "... narrow is the road that leads to life ..." (Matthew 7:14)
JANUARY 5
We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
-Psalm 44:1-3
HISTORY
In most contemporary accounts of historical events, man plays the central role of hero or villain. In Winston Churchill's four volume History of the English Speaking Peoples, for example, the real hero is the genius of the peoples of the British nation. It is essentially a progressive view of history, and therefore, modern, because it tells a tale of greater and greater national triumphs. It is a wonderful story of kings and queens and leaders of all sorts carrying the growing empire forward to its ordained destiny of a saving civilization. Yet in a sense, Churchill's account is a very unsatisfying meal, because the hand of God is nowhere to be found.
Conversely, the Bible is also a work of history with its own kings and queens, battles won and lost, civilizations rising and falling, warriors and cowards, saints and villains. But while earthly events are important to the unfolding story, the supernatural hand of God is everywhere from the first page through the last. If we subscribe to the biblical account of history, then the importance of particular civilizations diminishes substantially, while the salvation of the individual soul becomes paramount. From the fall in the Garden of Eden to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit, it is a story that continues to unfold to this very minute through people just like you and me. This history becomes the revelation of the will of God, with each one of us participants in his great narrative: "It was not by their sword that they won the land ...; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them." (v3)
JANUARY 6
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
-Psalm 51:1-6
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Today the Church celebrates Epiphany, the coming of "a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." (Luke 2:32) David's song of confession is appropriate for this moment because he boldly reveals why all people need a savior: "Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (v5) David, Israel's most powerful king, understands the intractable nature of the inheritance of Adam that cannot be wished away. He calls out to God for Mercy.
If we want to understand the reason the coming of Christ was necessary, we can start with this Psalm. What David (and all men and women) so desperately needed was still to come. In time, the promise was fulfilled with the birth of the one who would "save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Jesus came to light the way to eternal life. And the way to eternal life is through him: "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12)
JANUARY 7
The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
-Proverbs 8:22-31
BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD
Solomon tells us that God's wisdom was "appointed from eternity, from the beginning before the world began." (v22) This spiritual truth is echoed throughout the Bible. From David: "When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, you saw my unformed body." (Psalm 139:15) From Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born I set you apart." (Jeremiah 1:5) From Isaiah: "Before I was born the Lord called me, from my birth he has made mention of my name." (Isaiah 49:1) From Paul: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world." (Ephesians 1:4) And Jesus says this at the end of his prayer for all believers: "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." (John 17:34)
Today many are taught that life begins at birth and ends with the finality of death; they are taught that there is no reality to either God or to eternal life. The Bible, however, tells another story. According to Scripture, you and I were created by God before we were born. And from the beginning, He had a purpose for us. In our blind foolishness, we can choose to disregard that purpose. We are free to choose to live without God, but like everything else, that choice has profound implications.
JANUARY 8
Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.
-Psalm 58:1-5
A RIGHTEOUS RULER
Anyone who has lived through the 20th century with its wars and cataclysmic violence knows that an unjust and violent ruler will bring misery to the people and the land. But at the end of his life, King David spoke of the blessings that come from a righteous ruler: "When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth." (2 Samuel 23:3-4)
The tyrant scorches the land and decimates the prosperity of the people. The righteous ruler is a servant of the people and acknowledges that all genuine blessings come from God.
JANUARY 9
Men cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. But no one says, "Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?"
-Job 35:9-11
A HARD TEACHING
People often express disappointment with God because their plea for help seems to go unanswered. They say, "Well, if God is love, why won't He help me? Or, why did God let this happen to me?"
But God is not a marionette dancing at the other end of our wishes. When we pray, do we pray with humility and supplication or are we making demands? And do we approach God with a pure heart?
Job continues: "He does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea, the Almighty pays no attention to it." (Job 35:12-13). And Psalm 66 says, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened." (Psalm 66:18)
This is difficult to hear, but we really do need to examine the condition of our own hearts when we are entering the presence of God through prayer.
JANUARY 10
LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
-Psalm 15:1-5
THE ARDUOUS JOURNEY
We never start the journey at the summit of the holy hill, nor are we parachuted in. Arriving there is a life-long effort. How are we to get there?
Jeremiah says, "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16) Jesus tells his disciples to travel light: "Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic or sandals or a staff ..." (Matthew 10:9-10) And Paul says to be careful in everything you do on the way: "... become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life ..." (Philippians 2:15-16)
The journey is arduous; the reward eternal.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from trail thoughts by Eric Kampmann Copyright © 2008 by Eric Kampmann. Excerpted by permission.
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