For the Love of God (Vol. 1, Trade Paperback) E-Book

D. A. Carson

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2006

Seitenzahl: 876

Beschreibung

In a world that views absolute truth, right and wrong, and salvation as being subject to individual interpretation, the Bible's unwavering proclamations and miraculous stories seem obsolete in modern times. But it is not God's Word that has changed. Indeed, its relevancy and its power to transform lives are intact. What has changed is the number of people who consult it. Now more than ever the need to read the Bible, to understand the big picture of its storyline, and to grasp the relevance this has for your life is critical. As with its companion volume, For the Love of God-Volume 2, this devotional contains a systematic 365-day plan, based on the M'Cheyne Bible-reading schedule, that will in the course of a year guide you through the New Testament and Psalms twice and the rest of the Old Testament once. In an effort to help preserve biblical thinking and living, D. A. Carson has also written thought-provoking comments and reflections regarding each day's scriptural passages. And, most uniquely, he offers you perspective that places each reading into the larger framework of history and God's eternal plan to deepen your understanding of his sovereignty-and the unity and power of his Word.

Leseprobe

For the Love of God, Volume One

Copyright © 1998 by D. A. Carson

Published by Crossway Booksa publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Cover design:Cindy Kiple

First printing, 1998

First trade paperback printing, 2006

ISBN-10:1-58134-815-0 ISBN-13:978-1-58134-815-6

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise designated, Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible:New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataCarson, D. A.For the Love of God : a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word / D.A. Carson.p.  cm.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 1-58134-008-7 (v. 1 : hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 1-58134-118-0 (v. 2 : hardcover : alk. paper)1. Devotional use. 2. Devotional calendars. 3. Bible—Reading.I. Title.BS617.8.C37 1998

220'.071—dc21

98-26484

BP           16    15    14    13    12    11    10    09    08    07    06 19    18    17     16     15    14    13    12    11    10     9     8     7

This book is gratefully dedicatedto my dear wifeJoywho is to me as her name.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

M’Cheyne Chart of Daily Bible Readings

Daily Readings

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

PREFACE

This book, the first of two volumes, is for Christians who want to read the Bible, who want to read all the Bible.

At their best, Christians have saturated themselves in the Bible. They say with Job, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12). That comparison was something the children of Israel were meant to learn in the wilderness. We are told that God led them into hunger and fed them with manna to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3)—words quoted by the Lord Jesus when he himself faced temptation (Matt. 4:4). Not only for the book of Revelation may it properly be said, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it” (Rev. 1:3). On the night he was betrayed, Jesus Christ prayed for his followers in these terms:“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). The means by which God sanctifies men and women, setting them apart as his own people, is the Word of truth.

The challenge has become increasingly severe in recent years, owing to several factors. All of us must confront the regular sins of laziness or lack of discipline, sins of the flesh, and of the pride of life. But there are additional pressures. The sheer pace of life affords us many excuses for sacrificing the important on the altar of the urgent. The constant sensory input from all sides is gently addictive—we become used to being entertained and diverted, and it is difficult to carve out the space and silence necessary for serious and thoughtful reading of Scripture. More seriously yet, the rising biblical illiteracy in Western culture means that the Bible is increasingly a closed book, even to many Christians. As the culture drifts away from its former rootedness in a Judeo-Christian understanding of God, history, truth, right and wrong, purpose, judgment, forgiveness, and community, so the Bible seems stranger and stranger. For precisely the same reason, it becomes all the more urgent to read it and reread it, so that at least confessing Christians preserve the heritage and outlook of a mind shaped and informed by holy Scripture.

This is a book to encourage that end. Devotional guides tend to offer short, personal readings from the Bible, sometimes only a verse or two, followed by several paragraphs of edifying exposition. Doubtless they provide personal help for believers with private needs, fears, and hopes. But they do not provide the framework of what the Bible says—the “plotline” or “story line”—the big picture that makes sense of all the little bits of the Bible. Wrongly used, such devotional guides may ultimately engender the profoundly wrong-headed view that God exists to sort out my problems; they may foster profoundly mistaken interpretations of some Scriptures, simply because the handful of passages they treat are no longer placed within the framework of the big picture, which is gradually fading from view. Only systematic and repeated reading of the whole Bible can meet these challenges.

That is what this book encourages. Here you will find a plan that will help you read through the New Testament and the Psalms twice, and the rest of the Bible once, in the course of a year—or, on a modification of the plan, in the course of two years. Comment is offered for each day, but this book fails utterly in its goal if you read the comment and not the assigned biblical passages.

The reading scheme laid out here is a slight modification of one that was first developed a century-and-a-half ago by a Scottish minister, Robert Murray M’Cheyne. How it works and why this book is only Volume One (even though it goes through the entire calendar year) are laid out in the Introduction.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

Soli Deo gloria.

—D. A. Carson,Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

INTRODUCTION

Robert Murray M’Cheyne was born in Edinburgh on May 21, 1813. He died in Dundee on March 25, 1843—not yet thirty years of age. He had been serving as minister of St. Peter’s, Dundee, since 1836. Though so young, he was known throughout Scotland as “the saintly M’Cheyne”; nor was his remarkable influence limited to the borders of Scotland.

His friend and colleague in ministry, Andrew Bonar, collected some of M’Cheyne’s letters, messages, and miscellaneous papers, and published them, along with a brief biography, in 1844 as Robert Murray M’Cheyne:Memoir and Remains. That work has been widely recognized as one of the great spiritual classics. Within twenty-five years of its initial publication, it went through 116 British editions, quite apart from those in America and elsewhere. Contemporary believers interested in Christian living under the shadow of genuine revival could scarcely do better than to read and reflect on this collection of writings.

One of M’Cheyne’s abiding concerns was to encourage his people, and himself, to read the Bible. To one young man, he wrote, “You read your Bible regularly, of course; but do try and understand it, and still more to feel it. Read more parts than one at a time. For example, if you are reading Genesis, read a Psalm also; or if you are reading Matthew, read a small bit of an Epistle also. Turn the Bible into prayer. Thus, if you were reading the First Psalm, spread the Bible on the chair before you, and kneel and pray, ‘O Lord, give me the blessedness of the man’; ‘let me not stand in the counsel of the ungodly.’ This is the best way of knowing the meaning of the Bible, and of learning to pray.” This was not some quaint or escapist pietism, for at the same time, M’Cheyne was himself diligent in the study of Hebrew and Greek. While a theological student, he met regularly for prayer, study, and Hebrew and Greek exercises with Andrew Bonar, Horatius Bonar, and a handful of other earnest ministers-in-training. They took the Bible so seriously in their living and preaching that when the eminent Thomas Chalmers, then Professor of Divinity, heard of the way they approached the Bible, he is reported to have said, “I like these literalities.”

In line with his desire to foster serious Bible reading, M’Cheyne prepared a scheme for daily reading that would take readers through the New Testament and Psalms twice each year, and through the rest of the Bible once. It is reproduced, in slightly modified form, at the end of this Introduction.1Some explanation of the chart may be helpful.

The first column is self-explanatory:it lists the date for every day of the year. The following points explain the other features of this chart and the way this book is laid out.

(1) Originally, M’Cheyne listed two columns labeled “Family,” and two labeled “Secret.” He intended that, with some exceptions, the Scripture listings in the “Family” columns be read in family devotions, and those in the “Secret” columns be read privately, in personal devotions. The choice of the word secret was drawn from Matthew 6:6, and was in common use in M’Cheyne’s day. I have labeled the two pairs of columns “Family” and “Private” respectively.

(2) For those using the chart for purely private devotions, the headings are of little significance. Over the last century and a half, many, many Christians have used this chart in just this way—as a guide and a schedule for their own Bible reading.

(3) That there are two columns for “Family” readings and two columns for “Private” readings reflects M’Cheyne’s view that Christians should read from more than one part of the Bible at a time. Not only will this help you link various passages in your mind, but it will help carry you through some of the parts of the Bible that are on first inspection somewhat leaner than others (e.g.,1 Chronicles 1—12).

(4) If you read through the four passages listed for each date, in the course of a year you will, as I have indicated, read through the New Testament and the Psalms twice, and the rest of the Bible once. But if for any reason you find this too fast a pace, then read the passages listed in the first two columns (headed “Family”) in the first year, and the passages listed in the last two columns (headed “Private”) in the second year. Obviously this halves the rate of progress.

(5) One page of this book is devoted to each day. At the top of the page is the date, followed by the references to the four readings. The first two, corresponding to the entries in the “Family” columns, are in italics; the last two, corresponding to the entries in the “Private” columns, are in Roman type. The “Comment” that occupies the rest of the page is occasionally based on some theme that links all four passages, but more commonly is based on some theme or text found in the italicized passages. In Volume Two, the second pair of passages is italicized (rather than the first), and the “Comment” is based on this second pair. In this first volume, I have not restricted comment to passages in the first column, because, in agreement with M’Cheyne, I suppose that to focus on only one part of Scripture, in this case the historical books of the Old Testament (the first col­umn), will not be as helpful as a broader exposure to Scripture. So I have normally commented on a passage of Scripture in one of the first two columns. The first time I refer to the passage on which I am commenting I put the reference in boldface type.

(6) In no way do these pages pretend to be a commentary as that word is commonly understood. My aim is much more modest:to provide edifying comments and reflections on some part of the designated texts, and thus to encourage readers to reflect further on the biblical passages they are reading. If there is something unusual about these comments, it is that I have tried to devote at least some of them to helping the reader keep the big picture of the Bible’s “story line” in mind, and to see what relevance this has for our thinking and living. In other words, although I want the comments to be edifying, this edification is not always of a private, individualized sort. My aim is to show, in however preliminary a way, that reading the whole Bible must stir up thoughtful Christians to thinking theologically and holistically, as well as reverently and humbly. Volume Two includes an exhaustive index of names, subjects, and Scriptures for both volumes.

Finally, I should venture a few practical suggestions. If you must skip something, skip this book; read the Bible instead. If you fall behind, do not use that fact as an excuse for giving up the effort until next January 1. Either catch up (by an afternoon of diligent reading, perhaps some Sunday), or skip ahead to where you should be and take up there. If your schedule allows it, set a regular time and place for your Bible reading. M’Cheyne himself wrote, “Let our secret reading prevent [i.e., precede] the dawning of the day. Let God’s voice be the first we hear in the morning.” Whether that is the best time of the day for you is of little consequence; regular habits are of more importance. When you read, remember that God himself has declared, “This is the one I esteem:he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isa. 66:2). Learn to distill what a passage is saying, and pray it back to the Lord—whether in petition, thanksgiving, praise, or frank uncertainty. In time your Bible reading will so be linked with your praying that the two will not always be differentiable.2

1 The original can be found in many editions of the book already referred to, viz. Andrew A. Bonar, ed., Robert Murray M’Cheyne:Memoir and Remains. My copy is from the 1966 reprint, published by Banner of Truth, taken from the 1892 edition, pp. 623-628. Some popular editions, such as the two-volume paperback edition published by Moody Press (n.d.), omit the chart. The principal changes in substance I have introduced are four places where I have changed the break in the passage by two or three verses.

2 I have tried to offer some practical pointers in this respect in A Call to Spiritual Reformation:Priorities from Paul and His Prayers (Grand Rapids:Baker, 1992).

M’Cheyne Chart of Daily Bible Readings

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Jan 1

Gen 1

Matt 1

Ezra 1

Acts 1

Jan 2

Gen 2

Matt 2

Ezra 2

Acts 2

Jan 3

Gen 3

Matt 3

Ezra 3

Acts 3

Jan 4

Gen 4

Matt 4

Ezra 4

Acts 4

Jan 5

Gen 5

Matt 5

Ezra 5

Acts 5

Jan 6

Gen 6

Matt 6

Ezra 6

Acts 6

Jan 7

Gen 7

Matt 7

Ezra 7

Acts 7

Jan 8

Gen 8

Matt 8

Ezra 8

Acts 8

Jan 9

Gen 9-10

Matt 9

Ezra 9

Acts 9

Jan 10

Gen 11

Matt 10

Ezra 10

Acts 10

Jan 11

Gen 12

Matt 11

Neh 1

Acts 11

Jan 12

Gen 13

Matt 12

Neh 2

Acts 12

Jan 13

Gen 14

Matt 13

Neh 3

Acts 13

Jan 14

Gen 15

Matt 14

Neh 4

Acts 14

Jan 15

Gen 16

Matt 15

Neh 5

Acts 15

Jan 16

Gen 17

Matt 16

Neh 6

Acts 16

Jan 17

Gen 18

Matt 17

Neh 7

Acts 17

Jan 18

Gen 19

Matt 18

Neh 8

Acts 18

Jan 19

Gen 20

Matt 19

Neh 9

Acts 19

Jan 20

Gen 21

Matt 20

Neh 10

Acts 20

Jan 21

Gen 22

Matt 21

Neh 11

Acts 21

Jan 22

Gen 23

Matt 22

Neh 12

Acts 22

Jan 23

Gen 24

Matt 23

Neh 13

Acts 23

Jan 24

Gen 25

Matt 24

Est 1

Acts 24

Jan 25

Gen 26

Matt 25

Est 2

Acts 25

Jan 26

Gen 27

Matt 26

Est 3

Acts 26

Jan 27

Gen 28

Matt 27

Est 4

Acts 27

Jan 28

Gen 29

Matt 28

Est 5

Acts 28

Jan 29

Gen 30

Mark 1

Est 6

Rom 1

Jan 30

Gen 31

Mark 2

Est 7

Rom 2

Jan 31

Gen 32

Mark 3

Est 8

Rom 3

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Feb 1

Gen 33

Mark 4

Est 9-10

Rom 4

Feb 2

Gen 34

Mark 5

Job 1

Rom 5

Feb 3

Gen 35-36

Mark 6

Job 2

Rom 6

Feb 4

Gen 37

Mark 7

Job 3

Rom 7

Feb 5

Gen 38

Mark 8

Job 4

Rom 8

Feb 6

Gen 39

Mark 9

Job 5

Rom 9

Feb 7

Gen 40

Mark 10

Job 6

Rom 10

Feb 8

Gen 41

Mark 11

Job 7

Rom 11

Feb 9

Gen 42

Mark 12

Job 8

Rom 12

Feb 10

Gen 43

Mark 13

Job 9

Rom 13

Feb 11

Gen 44

Mark 14

Job 10

Rom 14

Feb 12

Gen 45

Mark 15

Job 11

Rom 15

Feb 13

Gen 46

Mark 16

Job 12

Rom 16

Feb 14

Gen 47

Lu 1:1-38

Job 13

1 Cor 1

Feb 15

Gen 48

Lu 1:39-80

Job 14

1 Cor 2

Feb 16

Gen 49

Lu 2

Job 15

1 Cor 3

Feb 17

Gen 50

Lu 3

Job 16-17

1 Cor 4

Feb 18

Ex 1

Lu 4

Job 18

1 Cor 5

Feb 19

Ex 2

Lu 5

Job 19

1 Cor 6

Feb 20

Ex 3

Lu 6

Job 20

1 Cor 7

Feb 21

Ex 4

Lu 7

Job 21

1 Cor 8

Feb 22

Ex 5

Lu 8

Job 22

1 Cor 9

Feb 23

Ex 6

Lu 9

Job 23

1 Cor 10

Feb 24

Ex 7

Lu 10

Job 24

1 Cor 11

Feb 25

Ex 8

Lu 11

Job 25-26

1 Cor 12

Feb 26

Ex 9

Lu 12

Job 27

1 Cor 13

Feb 27

Ex 10

Lu 13

Job 28

1 Cor 14

Feb 28

Ex 11:1-12:20

Lu 14

Job 29

1 Cor 15

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Mar 1

Ex 12:21-51

Lu 15

Job 30

1 Cor 16

Mar 2

Ex 13

Lu 16

Job 31

2 Cor 1

Mar 3

Ex 14

Lu 17

Job 32

2 Cor 2

Mar 4

Ex 15

Lu 18

Job 33

2 Cor 3

Mar 5

Ex 16

Lu 19

Job 34

2 Cor 4

Mar 6

Ex 17

Lu 20

Job 35

2 Cor 5

Mar 7

Ex 18

Lu 21

Job 36

2 Cor 6

Mar 8

Ex 19

Lu 22

Job 37

2 Cor 7

Mar 9

Ex 20

Lu 23

Job 38

2 Cor 8

Mar 10

Ex 21

Lu 24

Job 39

2 Cor 9

Mar 11

Ex 22

John 1

Job 40

2 Cor 10

Mar 12

Ex 23

John 2

Job 41

2 Cor 11

Mar 13

Ex 24

John 3

Job 42

2 Cor 12

Mar 14

Ex 25

John 4

Prov 1

2 Cor 13

Mar 15

Ex 26

John 5

Prov 2

Gal 1

Mar 16

Ex 27

John 6

Prov 3

Gal 2

Mar 17

Ex 28

John 7

Prov 4

Gal 3

Mar 18

Ex 29

John 8

Prov 5

Gal 4

Mar 19

Ex 30

John 9

Prov 6

Gal 5

Mar 20

Ex 31

John 10

Prov 7

Gal 6

Mar 21

Ex 32

John 11

Prov 8

Eph 1

Mar 22

Ex 33

John 12

Prov 9

Eph 2

Mar 23

Ex 34

John 13

Prov 10

Eph 3

Mar 24

Ex 35

John 14

Prov 11

Eph 4

Mar 25

Ex 36

John 15

Prov 12

Eph 5

Mar 26

Ex 37

John 16

Prov 13

Eph 6

Mar 27

Ex 38

John 17

Prov 14

Phil 1

Mar 28

Ex 39

John 18

Prov 15

Phil 2

Mar 29

Ex 40

John 19

Prov 16

Phil 3

Mar 30

Lev 1

John 20

Prov 17

Phil 4

Mar 31

Lev 2-3

John 21

Prov 18

Col 1

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Apr 1

Lev 4

Ps 1-2

Prov 19

Col 2

Apr 2

Lev 5

Ps 3-4

Prov 20

Col 3

Apr 3

Lev 6

Ps 5-6

Prov 21

Col 4

Apr 4

Lev 7

Ps 7-8

Prov 22

1 Thess 1

Apr 5

Lev 8

Ps 9

Prov 23

1 Thess 2

Apr 6

Lev 9

Ps 10

Prov 24

1 Thess 3

Apr 7

Lev 10

Ps 11-12

Prov 25

1 Thess 4

Apr 8

Lev 11-12

Ps 13-14

Prov 26

1 Thess 5

Apr 9

Lev 13

Ps 15-16

Prov 27

2 Thess 1

Apr 10

Lev 14

Ps 17

Prov 28

2 Thess 2

Apr 11

Lev 15

Ps 18

Prov 29

2 Thess 3

Apr 12

Lev 16

Ps 19

Prov 30

1 Tim 1

Apr 13

Lev 17

Ps 20-21

Prov 31

1 Tim 2

Apr 14

Lev 18

Ps 22

Eccles 1

1 Tim 3

Apr 15

Lev 19

Ps 23-24

Eccles 2

1 Tim 4

Apr 16

Lev 20

Ps 25

Eccles 3

1 Tim 5

Apr 17

Lev 21

Ps 26-27

Eccles 4

1 Tim 6

Apr 18

Lev 22

Ps 28-29

Eccles 5

2 Tim 1

Apr 19

Lev 23

Ps 30

Eccles 6

2 Tim 2

Apr 20

Lev 24

Ps 31

Eccles 7

2 Tim 3

Apr 21

Lev 25

Ps 32

Eccles 8

2 Tim 4

Apr 22

Lev 26

Ps 33

Eccles 9

Titus 1

Apr 23

Lev 27

Ps 34

Eccles 10

Titus 2

Apr 24

Num 1

Ps 35

Eccles 11

Titus 3

Apr 25

Num 2

Ps 36

Eccles 12

Philem

Apr 26

Num 3

Ps 37

Song 1

Heb 1

Apr 27

Num 4

Ps 38

Song 2

Heb 2

Apr 28

Num 5

Ps 39

Song 3

Heb 3

Apr 29

Num 6

Ps 40-41

Song 4

Heb 4

Apr 30

Num 7

Ps 42-43

Song 5

Heb 5

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

May 1

Num 8

Ps 44

Song 6

Heb 6

May 2

Num 9

Ps 45

Song 7

Heb 7

May 3

Num 10

Ps 46-47

Song 8

Heb 8

May 4

Num 11

Ps 48

Isa 1

Heb 9

May 5

Num 12-13

Ps 49

Isa 2

Heb 10

May 6

Num 14

Ps 50

Isa 3-4

Heb 11

May 7

Num 15

Ps 51

Isa 5

Heb 12

May 8

Num 16

Ps 52-54

Isa 6

Heb 13

May 9

Num 17-18

Ps 55

Isa 7

James 1

May 10

Num 19

Ps 56-57

Isa 8:1-9:7

James 2

May 11

Num 20

Ps 58-59

Isa 9:8-10:4

James 3

May 12

Num 21

Ps 60-61

Isa 10:5-34

James 4

May 13

Num 22

Ps 62-63

Isa 11-12

James 5

May 14

Num 23

Ps 64-65

Isa 13

1 Peter 1

May 15

Num 24

Ps 66-67

Isa 14

1 Peter 2

May 16

Num 25

Ps 68

Isa 15

1 Peter 3

May 17

Num 26

Ps 69

Isa 16

1 Peter 4

May 18

Num 27

Ps 70-71

Isa 17-18

1 Peter 5

May 19

Num 28

Ps 72

Isa 19-20

2 Peter 1

May 20

Num 29

Ps 73

Isa 21

2 Peter 2

May 21

Num 30

Ps 74

Isa 22

2 Peter 3

May 22

Num 31

Ps 75-76

Isa 23

1 John 1

May 23

Num 32

Ps 77

Isa 24

1 John 2

May 24

Num 33

Ps 78:1-39

Isa 25

1 John 3

May 25

Num 34

Ps 78:40-72

Isa 26

1 John 4

May 26

Num 35

Ps 79

Isa 27

1 John 5

May 27

Num 36

Ps 80

Isa 28

2 John

May 28

Deut 1

Ps 81-82

Isa 29

3 John

May 29

Deut 2

Ps 83-84

Isa 30

Jude

May 30

Deut 3

Ps 85

Isa 31

Rev 1

May 31

Deut 4

Ps 86-87

Isa 32

Rev 2

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Jun 1

Deut 5

Ps 88

Isa 33

Rev 3

Jun 2

Deut 6

Ps 89

Isa 34

Rev 4

Jun 3

Deut 7

Ps 90

Isa 35

Rev 5

Jun 4

Deut 8

Ps 91

Isa 36

Rev 6

Jun 5

Deut 9

Ps 92-93

Isa 37

Rev 7

Jun 6

Deut 10

Ps 94

Isa 38

Rev 8

Jun 7

Deut 11

Ps 95-96

Isa 39

Rev 9

Jun 8

Deut 12

Ps 97-98

Isa 40

Rev 10

Jun 9

Deut 13-14

Ps 99-101

Isa 41

Rev 11

Jun 10

Deut 15

Ps 102

Isa 42

Rev 12

Jun 11

Deut 16

Ps 103

Isa 43

Rev 13

Jun 12

Deut 17

Ps 104

Isa 44

Rev 14

Jun 13

Deut 18

Ps 105

Isa 45

Rev 15

Jun 14

Deut 19

Ps 106

Isa 46

Rev 16

Jun 15

Deut 20

Ps 107

Isa 47

Rev 17

Jun 16

Deut 21

Ps 108-109

Isa 48

Rev 18

Jun 17

Deut 22

Ps 110-111

Isa 49

Rev 19

Jun 18

Deut 23

Ps 112-113

Isa 50

Rev 20

Jun 19

Deut 24

Ps 114-115

Isa 51

Rev 21

Jun 20

Deut 25

Ps 116

Isa 52

Rev 22

Jun 21

Deut 26

Ps 117-118

Isa 53

Matt 1

Jun 22

Deut 27:1-28:19

Ps 119:1-24

Isa 54

Matt 2

Jun 23

Deut 28:20-68

Ps 119:25-48

Isa 55

Matt 3

Jun 24

Deut 29

Ps 119:49-72

Isa 56

Matt 4

Jun 25

Deut 30

Ps 119:73-96

Isa 57

Matt 5

Jun 26

Deut 31

Ps 119:97-120

Isa 58

Matt 6

Jun 27

Deut 32

Ps 119:121-144

Isa 59

Matt 7

Jun 28

Deut 33-34

Ps 119:145-176

Isa 60

Matt 8

Jun 29

Josh 1

Ps 120-122

Isa 61

Matt 9

Jun 30

Josh 2

Ps 123-125

Isa 62

Matt 10

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Jul 1

Josh 3

Ps 126-128

Isa 63

Matt 11

Jul 2

Josh 4

Ps 129-131

Isa 64

Matt 12

Jul 3

Josh 5

Ps 132-134

Isa 65

Matt 13

Jul 4

Josh 6

Ps 135-136

Isa 66

Matt 14

Jul 5

Josh 7

Ps 137-138

Jer 1

Matt 15

Jul 6

Josh 8

Ps 139

Jer 2

Matt 16

Jul 7

Josh 9

Ps 140-141

Jer 3

Matt 17

Jul 8

Josh 10

Ps 142-143

Jer 4

Matt 18

Jul 9

Josh 11

Ps 144

Jer 5

Matt 19

Jul 10

Josh 12-13

Ps 145

Jer 6

Matt 20

Jul 11

Josh 14-15

Ps 146-147

Jer 7

Matt 21

Jul 12

Josh 16-17

Ps 148

Jer 8

Matt 22

Jul 13

Josh 18-19

Ps 149-150

Jer 9

Matt 23

Jul 14

Josh 20-21

Acts 1

Jer 10

Matt 24

Jul 15

Josh 22

Acts 2

Jer 11

Matt 25

Jul 16

Josh 23

Acts 3

Jer 12

Matt 26

Jul 17

Josh 24

Acts 4

Jer 13

Matt 27

Jul 18

Judg 1

Acts 5

Jer 14

Matt 28

Jul 19

Judg 2

Acts 6

Jer 15

Mark 1

Jul 20

Judg 3

Acts 7

Jer 16

Mark 2

Jul 21

Judg 4

Acts 8

Jer 17

Mark 3

Jul 22

Judg 5

Acts 9

Jer 18

Mark 4

Jul 23

Judg 6

Acts 10

Jer 19

Mark 5

Jul 24

Judg 7

Acts 11

Jer 20

Mark 6

Jul 25

Judg 8

Acts 12

Jer 21

Mark 7

Jul 26

Judg 9

Acts 13

Jer 22

Mark 8

Jul 27

Judg 10

Acts 14

Jer 23

Mark 9

Jul 28

Judg 11

Acts 15

Jer 24

Mark 10

Jul 29

Judg 12

Acts 16

Jer 25

Mark 11

Jul 30

Judg 13

Acts 17

Jer 26

Mark 12

Jul 31

Judg 14

Acts 18

Jer 27

Mark 13

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Aug 1

Judg 15

Acts 19

Jer 28

Mark 14

Aug 2

Judg 16

Acts 20

Jer 29

Mark 15

Aug 3

Judg 17

Acts 21

Jer 30-31

Mark 16

Aug 4

Judg 18

Acts 22

Jer 32

Ps 1-2

Aug 5

Judg 19

Acts 23

Jer 33

Ps 3-4

Aug 6

Judg 20

Acts 24

Jer 34

Ps 5-6

Aug 7

Judg 21

Acts 25

Jer 35

Ps 7-8

Aug 8

Ruth 1

Acts 26

Jer 36,

45 Ps 9

Aug 9

Ruth 2

Acts 27

Jer 37

Ps 10

Aug 10

Ruth 3-4

Acts 28

Jer 38

Ps 11-12

Aug 11

1Sam 1

Rom 1

Jer 39

Ps 13-14

Aug 12

1Sam 2

Rom 2

Jer 40

Ps 15-16

Aug 13

1Sam 3

Rom 3

Jer 41

Ps 17

Aug 14

1Sam 4

Rom 4

Jer 42

Ps 18

Aug 15

1Sam 5-6

Rom 5

Jer 43

Ps 19

Aug 16

1Sam 7-8

Rom 6

Jer 44

Ps 20-21

Aug 17

1Sam 9

Rom 7

Jer 46

Ps 22

Aug 18

1Sam 10

Rom 8

Jer 47

Ps 23-24

Aug 19

1Sam 11

Rom 9

Jer 48

Ps 25

Aug 20

1 Sam 12

Rom 10

Jer 49

Ps 26-27

Aug 21

1 Sam 13

Rom 11

Jer 50

Ps 28-29

Aug 22

1 Sam 14

Rom 12

Jer 51

Ps 30

Aug 23

1Sam 15

Rom 13

Jer 52

Ps 31

Aug 24

1 Sam 16

Rom 14

Lam 1

Ps 32

Aug 25

1 Sam 17

Rom 15

Lam 2

Ps 33

Aug 26

1 Sam 18

Rom 16

Lam 3

Ps 34

Aug 27

1 Sam 19

1 Cor 1

Lam 4

Ps 35

Aug 28

1 Sam 20

1 Cor 2

Lam 5

Ps 36

Aug 29

1 Sam 21-22

1 Cor 3

Ezek 1

Ps 37

Aug 30

1 Sam 23

1 Cor 4

Ezek 2

Ps 38

Aug 31

1 Sam 24

1 Cor 5

Ezek 3

Ps 39

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Sep 1

1 Sam 25

1 Cor 6

Ezek 4

Ps 40-41

Sep 2

1 Sam 26

1 Cor 7

Ezek 5

Ps 42-43

Sep 3

1 Sam 27

1 Cor 8

Ezek 6

Ps 44

Sep 4

1 Sam 28

1 Cor 9

Ezek 7

Ps 45

Sep 5

1 Sam 29-30

1 Cor 10

Ezek 8

Ps 46-47

Sep 6

1 Sam 31

1 Cor 11

Ezek 9

Ps 48

Sep 7

2 Sam 1

1 Cor 12

Ezek 10

Ps 49

Sep 8

2 Sam 2

1 Cor 13

Ezek 11

Ps 50

Sep 9

2 Sam 3

1 Cor 14

Ezek 12

Ps 51

Sep 10

2 Sam 4-5

1 Cor 15

Ezek 13

Ps 52-54

Sep 11

2Sam 6

1Cor 16

Ezek 14

Ps 55

Sep 12

2Sam 7

2Cor 1

Ezek 15

Ps 56-57

Sep 13

2 Sam 8-9

2 Cor 2

Ezek 16

Ps 58-59

Sep 14

2Sam 10

2Cor 3

Ezek 17

Ps 60-61

Sep 15

2Sam 11

2Cor 4

Ezek 18

Ps 62-63

Sep 16

2Sam 12

2Cor 5

Ezek 19

Ps 64-65

Sep 17

2Sam 13

2Cor 6

Ezek 20

Ps 66-67

Sep 18

2Sam 14

2Cor 7

Ezek 21

Ps 68

Sep 19

2Sam 15

2Cor 8

Ezek 22

Ps 69

Sep 20

2Sam 16

2Cor 9

Ezek 23

Ps 70-71

Sep 21

2 Sam 17

2 Cor 10

Ezek 24

Ps 72

Sep 22

2 Sam 18

2 Cor 11

Ezek 25

Ps 73

Sep 23

2Sam 19

2 Cor 12

Ezek 26

Ps 74

Sep 24

2 Sam 20

2 Cor 13

Ezek 27

Ps 75-76

Sep 25

2 Sam 21

Gal 1

Ezek 28

Ps 77

Sep 26

2 Sam 22

Gal 2

Ezek 29

Ps 78:1-39

Sep 27

2 Sam 23

Gal 3

Ezek 30

Ps 78:40-72

Sep 28

2 Sam 24

Gal 4

Ezek 31

Ps 79

Sep 29

1 Ki 1

Gal 5

Ezek 32

Ps 80

Sep 30

1 Ki 2

Gal 6

Ezek 33

Ps 81-82

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Oct 1

1 Ki 3

Eph 1

Ezek 34

Ps 83-84

Oct 2

1 Ki 4-5

Eph 2

Ezek 35

Ps 85

Oct 3

1 Ki 6

Eph 3

Ezek 36

Ps 86

Oct 4

1 Ki 7

Eph 4

Ezek 37

Ps 87-88

Oct 5

1 Ki 8

Eph 5

Ezek 38

Ps 89

Oct 6

1 Ki 9

Eph 6

Ezek 39

Ps 90

Oct 7

1 Ki 10

Phil 1

Ezek 40

Ps 91

Oct 8

1 Ki 11

Phil 2

Ezek 41

Ps 92-93

Oct 9

1 Ki 12

Phil 3

Ezek 42

Ps 94

Oct 10

1 Ki 13

Phil 4

Ezek 43

Ps 95-96

Oct 11

1 Ki 14

Col 1

Ezek 44

Ps 97-98

Oct 12

1 Ki 15

Col 2

Ezek 45

Ps 99-101

Oct 13

1Ki 16

Col 3

Ezek 46

Ps 102

Oct 14

1Ki 17

Col 4

Ezek 47

Ps 103

Oct 15

1Ki 18

1Thess 1

Ezek 48

Ps 104

Oct 16

1Ki 19

1Thess 2

Dan 1

Ps 105

Oct 17

1Ki 20

1Thess 3

Dan 2

Ps 106

Oct 18

1Ki 21

1Thess 4

Dan 3

Ps 107

Oct 19

1 Ki 22

1 Thess 5

Dan 4

Ps 108-109

Oct 20

2Ki 1

2Thess 1

Dan 5

Ps 110-111

Oct 21

2 Ki 2

2 Thess 2

Dan 6

Ps 112-113

Oct 22

2 Ki 3

2 Thess 3

Dan 7

Ps 114-115

Oct 23

2Ki 4

1 Tim 1

Dan 8

Ps 116

Oct 24

2 Ki 5

1 Tim 2

Dan 9

Ps 117-118

Oct 25

2 Ki 6

1 Tim 3

Dan 10

Ps 119:1-24

Oct 26

2 Ki 7

1 Tim 4

Dan 11

Ps 119:25-48

Oct 27

2 Ki 8

1 Tim 5

Dan 12

Ps 119:49-72

Oct 28

2 Ki 9

1 Tim 6

Hosea 1

Ps 119:73-96

Oct 29

2 Ki 10-11

2 Tim 1

Hosea 2

Ps 119:97-120

Oct 30

2 Ki 12

2 Tim 2

Hosea 3-4

Ps 119:121-144

Oct 31

2 Ki 13

2 Tim 3

Hosea 5-6

Ps 119:145-176

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Nov 1

2 Ki 14

2 Tim 4

Hosea 7

Ps 120-122

Nov 2

2 Ki 15

Titus 1

Hosea 8

Ps 123-125

Nov 3

2 Ki 16

Titus 2

Hosea 9

Ps 126-128

Nov 4

2 Ki 17

Titus 3

Hosea 10

Ps 129-131

Nov 5

2 Ki 18

Philem

Hosea 11

Ps 132-134

Nov 6

2 Ki 19

Heb 1

Hosea 12

Ps 135-136

Nov 7

2 Ki 20

Heb 2

Hosea 13

Ps 137-138

Nov 8

2 Ki 21

Heb 3

Hosea 14

Ps 139

Nov 9

2 Ki 22

Heb 4

Joel 1

Ps 140-141

Nov 10

2Ki 23

Heb 5

Joel 2

Ps 142

Nov 11

2Ki 24

Heb 6

Joel 3

Ps 143

Nov 12

2Ki 25

Heb 7

Amos 1

Ps 144

Nov 13

1Chr 1-2

Heb 8

Amos 2

Ps 145

Nov 14

1 Chr 3-4

Heb 9

Amos 3

Ps 146-147

Nov 15

1 Chr 5-6

Heb 10

Amos 4

Ps 148-150

Nov 16

1 Chr 7-8

Heb 11

Amos 5

Lu 1:1-38

Nov 17

1 Chr 9-10

Heb 12

Amos 6

Lu 1:39-80

Nov 18

1 Chr 11-12

Heb 13

Amos 7

Lu 2

Nov 19

1 Chr 13-14

James 1

Amos 8

Lu 3

Nov 20

1Chr 15

James 2

Amos 9

Lu 4

Nov 21

1 Chr 16

James 3

Obadiah

Lu 5

Nov 22

1 Chr 17

James 4

Jonah 1

Lu 6

Nov 23

1Chr 18

James 5

Jonah 2

Lu 7

Nov 24

1 Chr 19-20

1 Peter 1

Jonah 3

Lu 8

Nov 25

1 Chr 21

1 Peter 2

Jonah 4

Lu 9

Nov 26

1 Chr 22

1 Peter 3

Micah 1

Lu 10

Nov 27

1 Chr 23

1 Peter 4

Micah 2

Lu 11

Nov 28

1 Chr 24-25

1 Peter 5

Micah 3

Lu 12

Nov 29

1 Chr 26-27

2 Peter 1

Micah 4

Lu 13

Nov 30

1 Chr 28

2 Peter 2

Micah 5

Lu 14

DATE

FAMILY

FAMILY

PRIVATE

PRIVATE

Dec 1

1 Chr 29

2 Peter 3

Micah 6

Lu 15

Dec 2

2 Chr 1

1 John 1

Micah 7

Lu 16

Dec 3

2 Chr 2

1 John 2

Nahum 1

Lu 17

Dec 4

2 Chr 3-4

1 John 3

Nahum 2

Lu 18

Dec 5

2 Chr 5:1-6:11

1 John 4

Nahum 3

Lu 19

Dec 6

2 Chr 6:12-42

1 John 5

Hab 1

Lu 20

Dec 7

2 Chr 7

2 John

Hab 2

Lu 21

Dec 8

2 Chr 8

3 John

Hab 3

Lu 22

Dec 9

2 Chr 9

Jude

Zeph 1

Lu 23

Dec 10

2Chr 10

Rev 1

Zeph 2

Lu 24

Dec 11

2 Chr 11-12

Rev 2

Zeph 3

John 1

Dec 12

2Chr 13

Rev 3

Hag 1

John 2

Dec 13

2 Chr 14-15

Rev 4

Hag 2

John 3

Dec 14

2Chr 16

Rev 5

Zech 1

John 4

Dec 15

2Chr 17

Rev 6

Zech 2

John 5

Dec 16

2Chr 18

Rev 7

Zech 3

John 6

Dec 17

2 Chr 19-20

Rev 8

Zech 4

John 7

Dec 18

2Chr 21

Rev 9

Zech 5

John 8

Dec 19

2 Chr 22-23

Rev 10

Zech 6

John 9

Dec 20

2 Chr 24

Rev 11

Zech 7

John 10

Dec 21

2 Chr 25

Rev 12

Zech 8

John 11

Dec 22

2 Chr 26

Rev 13

Zech 9

John 12

Dec 23

2 Chr 27-28

Rev 14

Zech 10

John 13

Dec 24

2 Chr 29

Rev 15

Zech 11

John 14

Dec 25

2 Chr 30

Rev 16

Zech 12:1-13:1

John 15

Dec 26

2 Chr 31

Rev 17

Zech 13:2-9

John 16

Dec 27

2 Chr 32

Rev 18

Zech 14

John 17

Dec 28

2 Chr 33

Rev 19

Mal 1

John 18

Dec 29

2 Chr 34

Rev 20

Mal 2

John 19

Dec 30

2 Chr 35

Rev 21

Mal 3

John 20

Dec 31

2 Chr 36

Rev 22

Mal 4

John 21

JANUARY 1

Genesis 1; Matthew 1; Ezra 1; Acts 1

ALL FOUR OF THESE CHAPTERS DEPICT NEW BEGINNINGS, but the first reading—Genesis 1—portrays the beginning of everything in this created universe.

On the face of it, this chapter, and the lines of thought it develops, establish that God is different from the universe that he creates, and therefore pantheism is ruled out; that the original creation was entirely good, and therefore dualism is ruled out; that human beings, male and female together, are alone declared to be made in the image of God, and therefore forms of reductionism that claim we are part of the animal kingdom and no more must be ruled out; that God is a talking God, and therefore all notions of an impersonal God must be ruled out; that this God has sovereignly made all things, including all people, and therefore conceptions of merely tribal deities must be ruled out.

Some of these and other matters are put positively by later writers of Scripture who, reflecting on the doctrine of creation, offer a host of invaluable conclusions. The sheer glory of the created order bears telling witness to the glory of its Maker (Ps. 19). The universe came into being by the will of God, and for this, God is incessantly worshiped (Rev. 4:11). That God has made everything speaks of his transcendence, i.e., he is above this created order, above time and space, and therefore cannot be domesticated by anything in it (Acts 17:24-25). That he made all things and continues to rule over all, means that both racism and tribalism are to be rejected (Acts 17:26). Further, if we ourselves have been made in his image, it is preposterous to think that God can properly be pictured by some image that we can concoct (Acts 17:29). These notions and more are teased out by later Scriptures.

One of the most important entailments of the doctrine of creation is this:it grounds all human responsibility. The theme repeatedly recurs in the Bible, sometimes explicitly, sometimes by implication. To take but one example, John’s gospel opens by declaring that everything that was created came into being by the agency of God’s “Word,” the Word that became flesh in Jesus Christ (John 1:2-3, 14). But this observation sets the stage for a devastating indictment:when this Word came into the world, and even though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him (John 1:10). God made us to “image” himself; he made us for his own glory. For us to imagine ourselves autonomous is, far from being a measure of our maturity, the supreme mark of our rebellion, the flag of our suppression of the truth (Rom. 1).

JANUARY 2

Genesis 2; Matthew 2; Ezra 2; Acts 2

WHAT A STRANGE WAY, we might think, to end this account of Creation:“The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Gen. 2:25). Hollywood would love it:what an excuse for sexual titillation if someone tries to place the scene on the big screen. We hurry on, chasing the narrative.

Yet the verse is strategically placed. It links the account of the creation of woman and the establishment of marriage (Gen. 2:18-24) with the account of the Fall (Gen. 3). On the one hand, the Bible tells us that woman was taken from man, made by God to be “a helper suitable for him” (2:18), yet doubly one with him:she is bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh (2:23), and now the two are united as one in marriage, one flesh (2:24), the paradigm of marriages to come, of new homes and new families. On the other hand, in the next chapter we read of the Fall, the wretched rebellion that introduces death and the curse. Part of that account, as we glean from tomorrow’s reading, finds the man and the woman hiding from the presence of the Lord, because their rebellion opened their eyes to their nakedness (3:7, 10). Far from being unashamed, their instinct is to hide.

This was not how it was supposed to be. In the beginning, “the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” The sexual arena stands to the fore, of course; yet there is a symbol-laden depth to the pronouncement. It is a way of saying that there was no guilt; there was nothing to be ashamed of. This happy innocence meant openness, utter candor. There was nothing to hide, whether from God or from each other.

How different after the Fall. The man and the woman hide from God, and blame others. The candor has gone, the innocence has dissipated, the openness has closed. These are the immediate effects of the first sin.

How much more dire are the same effects worked into the psyche of a fallen race, worked into individuals like you and me with so much to hide. Would you want your spouse or your best friend to know the full dimensions of each of your thoughts? Would you want your motives placarded for public display? Have we not done things of which we are so ashamed that we want as few people as possible to know about them? Even the person whose conscience is said to be “seared” (e.g., 1 Tim. 4:2) and who therefore boasts of his sin does so only in some arenas, but not in others.

What astonishing dimensions characterize the salvation that addresses problems as deep as these.

JANUARY 3

Genesis 3; Matthew 3; Ezra 3; Acts 3

IN ANY DOMAIN, we are unlikely to agree as to what the solution of a problem is, unless we agree as to the nature of the problem.

The religions of the world offer an enormous range of solutions to human problems. Some promulgate various forms of religious self-help exercises; some advocate a kind of faithful fatalism; others urge tapping into an impersonal energy or force in the universe; still others claim that mystical experiences are available to those who pursue them, experiences that relativize all evil. One of the critical questions to ask is this:What constitutes the irreducible heart of human problems?

The Bible insists that the heart of all human problems is rebellion against the God who is our Maker, whose image we bear, and whose rule we seek to overthrow. All of our problems, without exception, can be traced to this fundamental source:our rebellion and the just curse of God that we have attracted by our rebellion.

This must not be (mis)understood in some simplistic sense. It is not necessarily the case that the greatest rebels in this world suffer the greatest pain in this world, on some simple tit-for-tat scheme. But whether we are perpetrators (as in hate, jealousy, lust, or theft) or victims (as in rape, battery, or indiscriminate bombing), our plight is tied to sin—ours or that of others. Further, whether our misery is the result of explicit human malice or the fruit of a “natural” disaster, Genesis 3 insists that this is a disordered world, a broken world—and that this state of affairs has come about because of human rebellion.

God’s curses on the human pair are striking. The first (Gen. 3:16), which promises pain in childbearing and disordered marriages, is the disruption of the first designated task human beings were assigned before the Fall:male and female, in the blessing of God, being fruitful and increasing in number (1:27-28). The second (Gen. 3:17-19), which promises painful toil, a disordered ecology, and certain death, is the disruption of the second designated task human beings were assigned before the Fall:God’s image-bearers ruling over the created order and living in harmony with it (1:28-30).

With perfect justice God might have destroyed this rebel breed instantly. He can no more ignore such rebellion than he can deny his own deity. Yet in mercy he clothes them, suspends part of the sentence (death itself)—and foretells a time when the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent who led the first couple astray. One reads Revelation 12 with relief, and grasps that Genesis 3 defines the problem that only Christ can meet.

JANUARY 4

Genesis 4; Matthew 4; Ezra 4; Acts 4

IT TOOK ONLY ONE GENERATION for the human race to produce its first murderer (Gen. 4). Two reflections:

(1) In the Bible, there are many motives behind murder. Jehu killed for political advantage (2 Kings 9–10); David killed to cover up his adultery (2 Sam. 11); Joab murdered out of revenge, and out of the fear of having his privileged position usurped (2 Sam. 3); some of the men of Gibeah in Benjamin killed out of unbridled lust (Judg. 19). It would be easy to enlarge the list. On the occasion of the first murder, the motive was sibling rivalry out of control. Cain could not bear to think that his brother Abel’s offering was acceptable to God, while his own was not. Instead of seeking God so as to improve his own sacrifice, he killed the man he saw as his rival.

What is common to all these motives is the assumption entertained by the murderer that he or she is at the center of the universe. Even God must approve what I do; if not, since I cannot kill God, I will kill those whom God approves. Instead of the glorious situation that obtained before the Fall, when in the minds of God’s image-bearers, God himself was at the center, and loved and cherished as our good and wise Maker and Ruler, now each individual wants to be the center of the universe, as if saying, “Even God must serve me. If he does not, perhaps it is time to invent new gods....”

Among the shocking elements in the murder of Cain is the stark fact that Cain’s nose is out of joint because he does not have God’s approval. The fatal sibling rivalry lies in this instance in the domain of religion. No matter:once I insist on being number one, I must be number one in every domain. Sad to tell, if the constraints of culture and fear of the penal system restrain me from outright murder, they are unlikely to restrain me from the kind of hate that the Lord Jesus insists is of the same moral order as murder (Matt. 5:21-26). So while the motives for murder are superficially many, at heart they become one:I wish to be god. And that is the supreme idolatry.

(2) In the Bible, the innocent are sometimes murdered. In this account, Abel is the righteous brother, yet he is the one who is murdered. From this fact we must reflect on two things. First, the Bible is utterly realistic about the horrible cruelty and unfairness of sin. Second, already by way of anticipation, we quietly recognize that if ultimate redress and justice are possible, God must intervene—and the books can only finally be squared after death.

JANUARY 5

Genesis 5; Matthew 5; Ezra 5; Acts 5

AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF GENESIS, one finds the refrain, “and then he died.” So-and-so lived so many years, and then he died... and then he died ...and then he died.... Why the repetition?

From the beginning, God’s intention had been that the intercourse between himself and his image-bearers would be eternal:Adam and Eve were to experience eternal life with God. Their rebellion put an end to this trajectory (Gen. 3:2122). Even if death did not fall on them immediately (Adam lived to the age of 930, according to Gen. 5:5), it was inevitable. The chapter before this table of deaths records the first murder—another death. And the three succeeding chapters (Gen. 6–8) record the Flood, in which the human race dies, save only Noah and his family. Whether by murder or by immediate divine judgment or by old age, the result is always the same:“and then he died.” As the wry contemporary expression puts it, “Life is hard, and then you die.”

In fact, by God’s just decree, death is taking hold of the human race. The life spans in Genesis 5 are extraordinary. They cannot last:more years means more evil. By Genesis 6:3, God determines to cut short the life span of his rebellious image-bearers. This decision is implemented gradually but firmly, so that by Genesis 11 the recorded ages have declined considerably, and in later records very few live longer than 120 years. But whatever the age, the final result is the same:“and then he died.”

Contemporary Western thought finds death so frightening that in polite conversation it is the last taboo. Nowadays one can chatter on about sex and finances, and never raise an eyebrow; mention death, and most people are uncomfortable at best. Even many Christians think of their faith almost exclusively in terms of what it does for them now, rather than in terms of preparing them for eternity such that it transforms how they live now.

God does not want us to shut our eyes to the effects of our sin, to the inevitability of death. Nevertheless, this chapter includes one bright exception:“Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Gen. 5:24). It is almost as if God is showing that death is not ontologically necessary; that those who walk with God one day escape death; that even for those who die, there is hope—in God’s grace—of life beyond our inevitable death. But it is tied to a walk with God. It will take the rest of the Bible to unpack what that means.

JANUARY 6

Genesis 6; Matthew 6; Ezra 6; Acts 6

THE FIRST THREE SECTIONS OF MATTHEW 6 (which itself is the central chapter of the Sermon on the Mount) deal with three fundamental acts of piety in Judaism:giving to the needy (traditionally called “alms-giving”), prayer, and fasting (Matt. 6:1-18). The common link is striking:Jesus recognizes how easy it is for sinners to engage in worthy, philanthropic and even religious activities, less in order to do what is right than to be admired for doing what is right. If being thought generous is more important than being generous, if gaining a reputation for prayerfulness is more important to us than praying when no one but God is listening, if fasting is something in which we engage only if we can disingenuously talk about it, then these acts of piety become acts of impiety.

The fundamental way to check out how sound we are in each of these areas is to perform these acts so quietly that none but God knows we are doing them. So be generous, but tell no one what you are giving (6:1-4). Insist that even the recipients be silent. Pray far more in secret than you do in public (6:5-8). By all means, fast—but tell no one you are doing so (6:16-18). As for the middle item in these three traditional acts of piety, there is a further test:do not bother to ask your heavenly Father for forgiveness where you yourself are unwilling to forgive (6:14-15).

In each of these three traditional acts of piety, genuine Christian living is characterized by a simple yet profound desire to please God, and not by the ostentation that is in reality more interested in generating the impression among our peers that we are pleasing God.

The last two sections of the chapter continue this probing of our innermost motives. (1) In the first, Jesus tells us to store up treasure in heaven, for our hearts will inevitably pursue our treasure. What we ultimately value will tug at our “hearts”—our personalities, our dreams, our time, our imaginations, our inmost beings—and we will pursue it. That thing becomes our god. If what we value is merely material, our god is materialism. But if all we cherish most belongs to the eternal realm, then our whole being will pursue what is of transcendent significance. (2) In the second, Jesus tells us that a true and faithful relationship with God refuses to indulge in endless, needless fretting. We can trust God—his wisdom, his goodness, his providential ordering of things—even in this broken, evil world. Not to trust him betrays the pagan character of our hearts.

In short:seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (6:33).

JANUARY 7

Genesis 7; Matthew 7; Ezra 7; Acts 7

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN scarcely a person in the Anglo-Saxon world would not have been able to cite John 3:16. Doubtless it was the best known verse in the entire Bible. It may still hold pride of place today—I am uncertain. But if it does, the percentage of people who know it is considerably smaller, and continues to decline as biblical illiteracy rises in the West.

Meanwhile there is another verse that is (perhaps more) frequently quoted, almost as a defiant gesture, by some people who do not know their Bibles very well, but who think it authorizes their biases. It is Matthew 7:1:“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” In an age when philosophical pluralism is on the ascendancy, these nine words might almost be taken as the public confession.

Three things must be said. First, it is striking that today’s readings include not only Matthew 7 but also Genesis 7. There the sweeping judgment of the Flood is enacted:“Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark” (Gen. 7:23). The same God stands behind both passages, so we should not be too hasty in understanding Matthew 7:1 to mean that all judgment is intrinsically evil.

Second, this is not an instance where something practiced in the Old Testament is somehow abolished in the New. It is not as if judgment was possible in Genesis but is now abolished in Matthew. After all, Matthew 7:6 demands that we make judgments about who are “dogs” and “pigs,” and the paragraphs at the end of this chapter warn against false prophets (and tell us how we are to discern who is true and who is false), and who is truly a follower of Jesus and who is not. Moreover, not only does this chapter speak of a terrible judgment no less final than the flood (Matt. 7:13, 19, 23), but there are many passages in the New Testament that are equally uncompromising.

Third, we must not only expose false interpretations of Matthew 7:1, we must understand what it does say and appropriate it. The verb judge has a wide range of meanings, and the context (7:1-5) is decisive in giving it its color in this passage. People who pursue righteousness (6:33) are easily prone to self-righteousness, arrogance, condescension toward others, an ugly holier-than-thou stance, hypocrisy. Not all are like that, of course, but the sin of “judgmentalism” is common enough. Jesus won’t have it.

JANUARY 8

Genesis 8; Matthew 8; Ezra 8; Acts 8

WHY DOES JESUS FIND the faith of the centurion so astonishing (Matt. 8:5-13)? The centurion assures Jesus that as far as he is concerned it is unnecessary for the Master to visit his home in order to heal the paralyzed servant. He understands that Jesus need only say the word, and the servant will be healed. “For,” the centurion explains, “I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (8:9). Why is this such an astonishing evidence of faith?

Three factors stand out. The first is that in an age of not a little superstition, the centurion believed that Jesus’ healing power did not lie in hocus-pocus, or even in his personal presence, but in his word. It was not necessary