A boring Thanksgiving verse

Reading the Bible is a joyful duty.

Whether a Christian feels like it or not, they should make every effort to read the bible systematically every day (that’s the duty part). 

But I can honestly say that it is a joyful duty (sometimes like eating my wife’s amazing green beans and sometime like eating my wife’s even more amazing lemon chess pie).  But there are some passages of the bible that are not as joyful as others.  To be honest, they are much more duty than joy. 

Let me give you an example (this is also a good prescription for insomnia).  I have recently been reading through the book of Nehemiah.  It has a great story line and some excellent insights.  However, it also has some extremely boring and tedious chapters—chapters 10-12 for example.

When plowing through passages like that I try to find some little nugget of inspiration where the author inserts a little editorial comment in the list.  Here’s an example that grabbed my attention:

⁸ Moreover the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah who led the thanksgiving psalms, he and his brethren. (Nehemiah 12:8, NKJV)

Did you catch it?

Good ole Mattaniah; he saved the day.

It would be quite an honor to make one of the many lists in the bible (God is into lists), but to be immortalized as the guy who led the thanksgivings psalms; wow, what a way to be remembered.

The ONE THING for today: Today is Thanksgiving, a good day to add your name to the list of the brethren (and sisters) who sing songs of thanksgiving.