Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 13, John 13
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
John 13:34 ESV
When Jesus knew that His hour had come to give up His life and return to his Father, He didn’t look to a bucket list of “Top 100 Things to Do Before You Die.” No, he washed His disciples’ feet. The most important thing to Him before His death was to leave an example of true love for His followers.
He gives them this “new commandment” – a very old commandment actually, but made even more difficult by the addition of “JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” It’s really, really hard to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) This takes supernatural power. But to love others sacrificially as Jesus did – washing your friends’ feet, your students’ feet, even your betrayer’s feet – and even to lay down your own life for someone else, this is impossible apart from being born again, having a new will and new power working in you. (Philippians 2:13)
Will you please pray with me for the Lord to give you this strength?
Heavenly Father, I confess to you how hard it is for me to love others as myself, how totally impossible it is for me to love them as you have loved me. Help me to remember that what is impossible for man is possible for God. Nothing is impossible for You. I need You to give me both the strength and the desire!
Help me to remember that You loved me while I was a sinner, your enemy. You ran after me while I was running away from You.Help me to feel – and express – that kind of love for others, even when I don’t feel like it. Help me to pursue others like You pursued me.
Help me to consider others more highly than myself. Help me to serve my family and my friends, people who love me. Help me to serve my children and my students, people who are under my authority. Help me to serve the stranger and alien and even my enemy, remembering that You loved me when I was a stranger and alien and even Your enemy.
I need Your help. Please. In the strong and kind name of Jesus my Savior and Lord, I pray, Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 12; John 12
How often do you find yourself saying things to impress others or to look good while your true motives are all wrong?
Like Judas said when Mary poured out the ointment of pure nard, “Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?” (John 12:5) when really Judas just wanted the money for himself.
Like when the people were all crowding around Jesus crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel!” (John 12:13) But days later they will be crying out “Crucify him!” (John 19:15)
When I was an atheist, I took pride in standing out. I took great satisfaction in not following the crowd. I thought, “Those people are all gullible sheep,” yet my motives were still selfish. I loved people’s admiration of my ability to stand out and swim upstream.
But even in my attempts to “do my own thing,” I was still working for the approval of others. I wanted to look like my favorite band, Depeche Mode. I wanted to get good grades and win the praise of my teachers.
So often we are swayed by the approval of others, whether in “fitting in” or “standing out.”
But here in John 12 Jesus has some weighty words that are most worthy of our serious consideration,
“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
– John 12:25-26 ESV
Now in my fifth decade of life, cresting the top of the hill and beginning my race toward the finish line, I want to live the rest of my days for the praise of God, my righteous judge, with my ears tuned to those most excellent words of praise, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21 ESV)
Heavenly Father,
Help us to pursue You with single-minded devotion. We want to live for Your praise and Yours alone. Forgive us for all the times we give way to comfort and pleasure and ease, choosing the wide path rather than the narrow road. You know our hearts. We are laid bare before You. Create in us new hearts. Renew our spirits anew. Give us strength to continue on for Your glory, longing to one day hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.”
In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord we Pray. Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 11; John 11
“But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
– John 11:4
Like the man born blind in John 9:3, Lazarus’s illness was for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified in it.
“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”
– John 11:5-6
Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus… So he stayed away two days longer. God’s ways are not like ours. His timing is not like ours. He has bigger purposes than our ease and comfort. We must fix our eyes on him rather than our circumstances. Paul learned the secret of being content in all circumstances, that he could do all things through Christ who gave him strength. We can live likewise, and as we do Christ will be glorified in our lives.
“… for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe….”
– John 11:15
Lazarus’s life and death and healing aren’t just about him or even just about his own family. Jesus wants his disciples’ faith to be grown through this tragedy. We need to remember that our brothers and sisters in Christ are watching us and being either encouraged or discouraged by how we live.
“So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
– John 11:16
Thomas often has a reputation as the unbelieving disciple, the doubter, but here you see that he was willing to die for Jesus. We, too, as disciples of Christ have our ups and downs, our good moments and are bad moments. Praise the Lord that He knows our hearts, and that He is a just and righteous and all-knowing God who sees us through the cleansing blood of His Son.
“So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.”
– John 11:20
Martha, too, has a bad rap, known for complaining to Jesus for her sister to help her, yet she’s the one who ran out to meet Jesus while Mary stayed in the house. In fact, Martha is who Jesus was speaking to in John 11:25-27, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.'” Mary and Martha each have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and God can use both of them for His glory. Martha can learn from Mary, and Mary can learn from Martha, and we can learn from both of them!
I am so thankful God gave me an older sister who is both very different and very similar to me. We were both created in the image of God, but with very unique gifts and purposes.
“… I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
– John 11:42
Jesus has purpose not only for Lazarus and his sisters, not only for His disciples, but also for the people standing around watching. My life isn’t just for myself, it’s not just for my family and friends, it’s not just for my brothers and sisters in Christ, it is also for those who are just standing around watching, my neighbors, the people at the grocery store, the people in the park, the people driving next to me on the street. Lord, be glorified in me!
Heavenly Father,
Wepray that we will treasure up Your words in our hearts, calling out for insight and understanding, seeking wisdom like silver and searching for understanding as hidden treasure, that we will fear You and know You, that we might believe in You and trust You with all of our hearts.
Thank You for the truth that those who KNOW Your name put their trust in You for You, oh Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Help us to be wise, being careful who we listen to, and being careful how we live. Help us, Father, to remember that people are watching us – our children, our husbands, our parents, our brothers and sisters in Christ, those who are far away from you are watching us. We pray that our lives would testify to the truth of the gospel. We pray that people will see our good deeds and give glory to You, our Father in heaven.
Help us to have faith as a mustard seed that grows and multiplies and fills our cities and nations.
Help us to share the good news of the gospel, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world, that all might believe in Him and receive the gift of eternal life.
It is in the good and holy name of Jesus our Savior and Lord that we pray. Amen
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Read Through the Bible in Two Years: Proverbs 10; John 10
“So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep…. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
– John 10:7, 10 ESV
This reminds me of when I was a child and our house was broken into. A thief took a baseball bat from our front porch and smashed the panel of glass in our front door so he could enter.
Thieves come to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we may have abundant life. Jesus is Himself the door for the sheep. If we want to meet the Father, we must come through Jesus, the only door. We can’t break our way in. There is no secret back entrance. Jesus is the only way. No man comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
– John 10:11-15 ESV
Jesus isn’t just any ol’ shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus isn’t just a hired hand who is getting paid to watch the sheep like “Little Boy Blue” or “The Boy who Cried Wolf.” Jesus is the good shepherd who willingly laid down His life for His sheep.
One of the most compelling reasons I have to believe that the Bible is true is that Jesus’s disciples were willing to be martyred for their faith. If they had known they were preaching a lie, would they have been willing to die for their faith? I don’t think so.
Jesus, too, was willing to die for His testimony that He was the Son of God, and Jesus was willing to die for us, His lost sheep who needed a good shepherd to rescue them.
Jesus is such a good shepherd. He doesn’t drive His sheep; He leads His sheep. He goes first and says, “Follow me.”
Are we good shepherds for our children and others we are leading?
Do we go first, leading by our good example, saying with love, “Follow me?”
Or do we stand behind them (or sit on the couch) yelling and pointing, “Do this! Do that! Don’t go that way! You’re doing it wrong! Don’t you hear me?”
“Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
– John 10:25-27 ESV
Jesus both spoke compelling truths and did compelling signs in the presence of thousands of witnesses so that His sheep would believe that He truly was the Son of God and Savior of the World. Yet, many did not believe? Why? Because they were not among Jesus’s sheep. They couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying. They couldn’t believe what Jesus was doing because they weren’t His sheep. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Just like you would never expect a chicken or hamster to understand you, you mustn’t be surprised when people can’t understand God’s Word. Like those Jewish men who heard Jesus’s words, “I and the Father are one,” and rather than worshipping Him they accused Him of blasphemy, saying “you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:30, 33). It’s like we read last week in Proverbs 1, wisdom cries aloud in the streets and markets, yet the people do not hear. Instead they close their ears and scoff, ignoring wisdom’s counsel and reproof.
Instead of being angry with those simple scoffers and fools, let’s humbly pray for them, remembering that we once we blind, too. Just like you wouldn’t be angry when a chicken or hamster doesn’t do what you tell it to, don’t be angry when a friend can’t understand what you’re talking about. Instead, let’s always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks, correcting our opponents with gentleness and respect. (2 Timothy 2:24-26, 1 Peter 3:14-17)
Lord God,
Thank You for opening my eyes and calling me into Your flock. Help me to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in me and to do it with gentleness and respect. Help me to be patient and kind to those who are still in the darkness. Give me a humble and grateful heart.
Help me to hear Your voice crying above the noise of the world saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” Give me eyes to see the door and the straight and narrow path to it.
Thank You for sending the Good Shepherd, the Perfect Shepherd, to lay down His life for me. Help me to be willing to lay down my life for my friends – and even for my enemies. Give me the wisdom I need to discern the enemy’s voice and let me not be deceived by the devil’s lies and schemes.
Help me to remember that my Good Shepherd Jesus said again and again, “Follow me.” Jesus came to earth, taking on flesh, Son of God and Son of Man, that we could know and follow You because we know and follow Him.
In the Name of Jesus Christ Our Savior, Lord, and Shepherd we pray. Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 9, John 9
Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
– John 9:3 ESV
God always has a plan and purpose in pain. Sometimes that plan is for discipline and chastisement, but sometimes God has other purposes. We have to be careful not to be so self-absorbed that we think our lives are only about us. Rather, we must recognize that as God’s children our lives are on display for the world to see. What trial are you facing right now? How can the works of God be displayed in that trial?
As Elisabeth Elliot wrote in Suffering is Never for Nothing, “It’s He who was the Word before the foundation of the world, suffering as a lamb slain. And He has a lot up His sleeve that you and I haven’t the slightest idea about now. He’s told us enough so that we know suffering is never for nothing.”
[Jesus] said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”
– John 9:7a
Parents want their children to obey promptly, cheerfully, and completely. Likewise, we should obey our Heavenly Father promptly, cheerfully, and completely. This blind man must by faith obey Jesus and go wash in order to be healed.
What if he waited until tomorrow to wash?
What if he grumbled the whole way he was walking to the pool?
What if he went to a different pool that was more convenient to him?
How often do we fail to obey (or our obedience comes from selfishness and pride) and we miss out on a blessing that God has for us?
“His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” … He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.””
– John 9:20-21, 25 ESV
Did you notice how many times “know” and “don’t know” were used in verses 20 – 31? There are so many things that we don’t know, right? But there was something this healed man KNEW, “he was blind but now he sees.” Do you feel that way? Do you KNOW that?
Near the end of this chapter, in verse 35, when Jesus found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” and he answered, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” can you feel his joy in having his question answered, “You have SEEN Him, and it is He who is speaking to you”?
Can you answer with this man who once was blind but now sees, “Lord, I believe” and worship Him with joy-filled faith?
Heavenly Father,
You are the God who creates people who are born with sight and people who are born blind. You have purpose in both. Thank You for the gift of earthly sight that allows us to see the beauty of creation that we might be drawn to seek You. Thank You, also, for the gift of spiritual sight that we can see You at work in our lives and in the lives of others around us.
We pray that You will give us spiritual wisdom to obey You promptly, cheerfully, and completely. Please forgive us for all those times we have stubbornly refused to follow You, and all those times we have followed You grudgingly and half-heartedly, those times we’ve waited for a better time, or waited to hear You a second or third or fourth or hundredth time. Help us to be obedient children so that Your works and Your character will be powerfully on display in our lives.
We pray that we will recognize that we were once blind, so that we can be grateful for the GIFT of sight that we have received. Keep us humble and protect us from that pride which so easily creeps into our hearts. Thank You for Your lovingkindness and grace.
In the Almighty Name of Jesus our Savior and our Lord we pray.Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 8, John 8
“”I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.”
– Proverbs 8:12-21 ESV
As an atheist, following my own ideas, all my ways were pride. I made my own rules based on what seemed right to me. And all it got me was misery. I was lost in my own sin and couldn’t find a way of escape. But God offers a way out through His Words of wisdom.
After reading Proverbs 8, I was reminded again of this truth while reading the story of the adulterous woman in John 8. God is simultaneously wise and gracious and merciful and holy and righteous. As His children and followers, He says “go, and from now on sin no more,” (John 8:11).
The older I get, the more I recognize my own sin. As a young adult, I thought I was so grown-up and good. God had changed me so much and brought me out of darkness and into light, but I still had so much to learn, so I found it particularly interesting to read John 8:7, 9, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her… and they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.” The older we get, the more we should be able to see our own sin. The better we know the Word, the better we should recognize what terrible sinners we are! So many of my obvious, external sins are gone (by God’s grace!) but those more “respectable,” hidden sins of pride, malice, and covetousness lurk just beneath the surface.
Heavenly Father, You are God alone. You are the truth. Indeed, every word of God proves true and You are a shield to those who take refuge in You.
Hide us in the shelter of your wings. Help us to “go and sin no more.” Help us to hear You and follow You. We pray that we would come into the light that our works would be exposed, and we would be laid bare before you, so that we would repent, turning away from our sins and turning to Jesus, eternal God in human flesh.
Help us to recognize our own sin and our own need for a Savior. Help us to be among those who do not throw stones at our fellow sinners, but instead point them to the One who came that we would have life to the full.
Truly, Satan is a liar. He came to steal and kill and destroy. He is the prince of this world, the king of darkness. Help us to rescue those who are held in his snare.We pray that the eyes of many would be opened so that they would see You, the author and creator of our faith.
It is in the matchless name of Jesus our Lord and Savior that we pray.Amen.
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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Proverbs 7; John 7
“Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.”
– John 7:2 ESV
The Feast of Booths was a festival celebrated each fall to memorialize when the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and preserved them for their years in the desert. If you want to learn more about the significance of the Feast of Booths, I suggest this article. The more you understand the Old Testament, the more you’ll understand the New. Not only is it incredibly interesting, but it grows your faith as you better understand the fulfillment of Yeshua, Jesus, the One who Saves, in the foreshadowing and prophecies of the Old Testament.
For not even his brothers believed in him.
– John 7:5 ESV
How painful it must have been that Jesus’s own brothers did not believe in Him! I am so grateful to God that my sister, too, came to faith in Christ just a few years after I did. How different my life would be today if she were still an opponent of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
– John 7:7 ESV
We should expect the world to hate us, and we should be prepared for battle, putting on the full armor of God, remembering that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the evil forces of darkness. (Ephesians 6)
In light of this kingdom battle, we need to speak the truth, and we need to believe that the truth is good. We must not be false witnesses, saying “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 8:11). We must not be people pleasers, giving lip-service and eye-service to people who want their itching ears to be scratched. (See Ephesians 6:6, 2 Timothy 4:3) We must not pretend that God won’t judge sin because that is, in fact, unloving and untrue.
The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
– John 7:18 ESV
Sometimes it’s easier to speak for yourself, saying what you think, what seems right to you, rather than to speak God’s words. But the truth is that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for giving me brothers and sisters in faith in my own city and nation, as well as around the world. I pray for those brothers and sisters who are being persecuted and attacked for their faith. Help them to stand firm. Help them to shine brightly and to forgive their enemies.
I pray that we would be people of truth ,- believing the truth, obeying the truth, speaking the truth. Make us truth-treasurers and truth-preservers. Protect us from loving our own comfort so much that we would lie and deceive others, and wander from the truth in how we live and speak.
Father, help us to speak for Your glory and not our own. Give us strength to hold fast to the truth and to speak the truth with authority and love.
I pray that we would come to You when we are thirsty, rather than forsaking You and digging our own cisterns. May streams of living water pour out of us, that You would be glorified in our lives.
In the Good and Glorious Name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.
One week in! Keep going! May the Lord find us faithful to Him and to His Word!
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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 6; John 6
I have always been one who wanted to achieve, to work hard and succeed. When I got to high school, I quit taking the classes that I enjoyed like choir and art and woodworking, and chose instead to take classes I could get an A in, classes that would look good on my resume. So, the words of John 6:28 resonated loud and clear with me.
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
– John 6:28 ESV
Jesus had just finished telling them not to work for food that perishes, but instead to work for the food that endures to eternal life. So, this is a logical question, right? I can just hear them saying, "Ok, got it, Jesus. So, what should we do?"
And here is His answer, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent,” (John 6:29) which seems to mean that even believing in Jesus is a work of God, not of self-will (look back at John 1:12-13 for more on this) … which Jesus states even more explicitly in verse 44 later in John 6, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
In pondering this idea, I was reminded of one of my favorite Bible passages, Ephesians 2:1-10,
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ”
Dead men can’t make themselves alive, and sinners will never turn to God by their own will. We need God to pour out His grace on us and draw us to believe and cause us to be born again to eternal life.
Which brings me to the next thing that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life…. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” (John 6:48, 51) The bread of LIFE. So much better than manna which spoiled day after day. The LIVING bread. Eternal life-giving bread. So much better than that manna which sustained the Israelites for their 40 years in the wilderness, but could never give them eternal life.
Jesus is the eternal one, the Alpha and Omega, who was and is and is to come, the living One – so He is the only one who can give eternity to us as children of God. So, we must come to Him and eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, abiding in Him by faith, that we, too, might have eternal life.
I’m sure we will learn more about this in the coming months, but what a gift it is to begin our new year remembering the bread of eternal life, Jesus.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to live among sinful dead men, to give up His own life, that we could receive eternal life by faith in Him. Help us to receive Him with humility and to offer this gift to others. Help us to remember that we are just beggars telling others where they, too, can find bread. Make us like the Samaritan woman who was eager to share this good news with others. Make us like Abraham who believed God and came to You by faith. Thank You for giving us our daily bread. Thank you for reminding us – and forcing us – to come to You day after day, not eating old, stale, molded bread, but new fresh, life-giving daily bread of Your Word which helps strengthen us to do those works which You have prepared in advance for us to do.
In the lifegiving Name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, I pray.Amen.
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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 5; John 6:1-40
“When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” … Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” John 6:14, 26 ESV
Earlier in the book of John, we read that Philip told Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,” (John 1:45) and Jesus himself said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” (John 5:46) Jesus had done so many miraculous signs – turning water into wine, healing the sick and lame, feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread – proving again and again that He was the Messiah and Emmanuel, God with us.
Yet, the people were following Him not because He was the way, the truth, and the life, but because of the wonderful gifts that He gave.
Which makes me think of Solomon’s warnings in Proverbs 5, “Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.” (verses 20-23 ESV)
How often are we like foolish children, chasing after the fleeting desires of the flesh, rather than pursuing the giver of every good and perfect gift! It reminds me of something C.S. Lewis once said, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (“the Weight of Glory”)
Lord Jesus, I come to You because You are the one true Messiah, the only Savior, the only way to the true and living God.
Heavenly Father, You are the Creator and Sustainer of life. You have caused all things to exist by Your will. It is Your breath of life that fills my lungs. You are on Your throne, whether I believe You or follow You … or not.
Help me to turn away from sin and turn towards You. Forgive me for all those times that I’ve let sinners entice me. Forgive me for all those times I’ve gone my own way, chasing after Your good gifts while turning my back on their Giver, worshipping created things rather than the Creator.
Help me to share the good news of the gospel with the lost. Help me to WANT everyone to know the joy and peace and freedom that I’ve found in You.
In the Perfect Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 4; John 4:46-5:47
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."
John 5:39-40 ESV
When the official’s son was healed, the official himself believed and so did his whole household. Oh how I pray that my whole household will be saved!
Before healing the lame man, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
We might think it a silly question, and yet how often would we rather return to our vomit and our pigpen. We say we want to be healed, we say we want to forsake our sin, but do we? Father, help us to want to want to follow You!
These Jews searched the scriptures because they wanted to find eternal life in them, yet it was those very scriptures who testified to Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Savior. How many people are warming pews, listening to the Word preached, week after week and year after year, yet they refuse to bow the knee to the Messiah?
So many people and events testify to the deity of Christ. John the Baptizer who came to make the way straight for Jesus, the Father’s own voice from heaven (Mark 1:11), the prophecies He fulfilled, the miracles Christ did during His life and especially the miracle of His resurrection, and yet people refused to believe and be saved.
Sounds like people today. The Jews were seeking glory from one another, rather than seeking glory from God, and I’m afraid we are, too.
Heavenly Father,
What an honor to call You Father. You have created each of us by Your will. You are worthy to receive all glory and honor and power (Revelation 4:11). I am not Your equal. No one is. I am not God and I never will be God. Rather, I have been created in Your likeness and for Your purposes, that You might be glorified in me and through me. Help me to be humble. Help me to search the scriptures faithfully and rightly, with a pure heart and a pure mind.
I want to know You more, that I would love You more and be more like You.
Make me a faithful witness like the Samaritan woman at the well that we read about yesterday, bearing testimony to others of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Help me to be Your faithful servant, doing Your will and Your work.
I pray that my whole household would believe. I pray for each of my children and their spouses and children. I pray for my parents and my sister and her family. I pray that they would see You in me and that they would search the scriptures faithfully for themselves.
Like some people believed after hearing the Samaritan woman’s testimony, but many more believed after hearing Jesus for themselves, I pray that many would listen to Jesus with their own ears and be saved.
In the powerful name of Messiah Jesus, my Lord and Savior, Amen.
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