He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me and He talks with me

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

C.Austin Miles

1 Kings 7.23 gives a detailed description of the size of the 'molten sea (the brazen sea) of the temple. It has a diameter ("from one brim to another") of 10 cubits and a circumference ("a line … did compass it round about") of 30 cubits. Remember your geometry. The formula is pi times the diameter. According to this scripture, the circumference of the brazen sea was 3 times the diameter. The value of pi is just over 3 (3.14159…). As far as we know, this scripture therefore contains the earliest approximation of the value of pi.

LU ‑ Berean News

God listens! In ancient Crete there was the image of a god without ears. It was intended as a reminder to passers-by that the god in questions was too busy and too preoccupied to be bothered with the prayers of needy people. How different is the revelation of our God and Father that we find in the pages of Holy Scripture! His ear is ever open to our cry. He hearkens to the prayers of His people. God is never too busy and never too preoccupied to attend to our cries.

Gnats and Camels. Matt.23.24 reads in the Authorised Version "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel". What Jesus really said was "You blind guides straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel" (RSV) or perhaps a little more forcefully "Blind guides! You strain off a midge, yet gulp down a camel" (REB). "This explains the custom of passing wine through a strainer lest any defiling insect should have got into it. One is impressed with the gentle irony in the Lord's words. The idea of swallowing a camel verges on the ludicrous. Extreme and exaggerated figurers of speech are common in the East; even so one can imagine the covert smiles on the faces of the bystanders at this biting comment on the punctilious observances of the Pharisees and their blindness to the really vital things." ‑ BSM 1981. Have we this characteristic of placing emphasis on the less important while forgetting what will change our destiny?