Jesus taught that all scripture testifies about him so that in him we might have life (John 5v39-40). King David taught that it is only by living according to God's word that we're kept on the right path (Psalm 119v9). What then could be better than reading the entire Bible? Click the menu to read about the program, choose a month or Bible book - or just work through the blog posts day by day.
BEGIN
WITH PRAYER
"Lord
open my eyes and my heart."
Read
slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him
for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your
church and the world.
Wisdom to
chew on
Understanding to
grow in
Here
Abram shows a degree of faith in God’s promise. Trusting him to give the land
he is able to be generous to Lot, and trusting he will give him descendants he
knows he will be safe in battle. Yet still his faith wavers as he then assumes
his servant will have to be his heir. But whether Abram is strong or wavering,
God’s blessing of him continues. Moreover, Christ is foreshadowed: first, in Melchizedek
as priest-king of Salem (which will become Jeru-salem), through whom Abram is blessed
and to whom he gives his service (14v18-20, cf. Heb 7); second, in Abram’s
justification as he is credited with righteousness (the status of perfectly
having done right) on account of his faith in God’s promise. This helps us
understand the nature of faith in the Old Testament. As believers engaged with
God on the basis of shadows or patterns of what is through Christ, so there was
a sense in which they benefitted from him in advance. As you read, note the
different signs of blessing.
Finish
this reading by pausing to ask yourself:
1) What’s
the main thing it teaches me about God or his purposes in Christ? Then praise him for this.
2) What’s
the main thing it teaches me about his will for me or the world? Then pray that home.
Devotion to
offer up
You could
read this aloud and perhaps as a springboard to further prayer.