Today's Reading May 08

Good morning and Happy Tuesday.
This morning's reading from the Old Testament is from First Kings chapters 16, 17, and 18
More of the decline of the divided kingdom. We do see here the beginnings of Samaria, from whence came later the references to the Samaritans. (by the way, there is a small remnant of them even today).
And yet, and yet .... yes there was great evil. The story of Ahab and Jezebel is in this section. But so is Elijah, to my mind the greatest prophet in the Old Testament. God sent him because, even in their wickedness, God had not forgotten His people. If you ever have the chance, you really need to study Ray Vanderlaan's ''That the World May Know'' (though I think it's now retitled as ''Faith Lessons'') series on video, with particular attention to the Elijah story - it used to be in the section entitled ''Who is God?''. I recommend it highly and dearly wish I could have been part of that effort.
I have to say that the evil described in the passage is little different from what exists in our world today.
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This evening's reading comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 29 through 51.
This is great stuff, and begins very well in verse 29. John is preaching and teaching by the sea, and, seeing Jesus, proclaims

''...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.''

and continuing on to verse 34, says

''34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.''

and much more.
All the Bible is important, but I'll admit that some sections just hit me more than others do. These passages, this Gospel, hit me hard. And should. Every time I hear and read this section, I'm reminded of a favorite song, ''Behold the Lamb'' which I believe was originally done by Dottie Rambo. If you have ever had the chance to sing it as part of a group, you will understand the impact that it has.