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
The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in love. That's clear from the history of Israel. Those who haven't read through the Old Testament assume God is presented there as merely wrathful. And wrath is expressed. Anger towards persistent unfaithfulness and sin is right. But in reality Israel's is a history of God's patience as he persistently perseveres with the people like the most long-suffering of parents. However, there is another concern that dominates this section: his concern for his name - that people "know that I am the LORD." For someone not to gain the credit that is their due is wrong. To be charged with doing evil when one has done good is an injustice. And so it should be no surprise that God seeks the acknowledgment that it is right and just for him to have. There's a sense in which it would be wrong for him not to. His giving of righteous laws, his revelation of Israel's sin by handing her over to her rebelliousness, his punishment of her sin, was all to show him as the true God who is supremely holy. But ultimately, this would be shown in bring her back from her exile in Babylon against all the odds, and renewing the hearts of the people so that they would be able to do what they proved themselves unable to do from themselves - serve him. And so it is that we come to know that the LORD is God, not only by seeing all this, but by experiencing that renewal through Christ so that we would honour the God it all points to. As you read note the different ways the people are to know the LORD.
Ezekiel 19:1-20:44
Ezekiel 19:1-20:44
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.