This Bible reading plan takes you through most of the Holy Scriptures each weekday of the year. Each day has three Bible readings:
You're welcome to read one, two, or all three of the readings every weekday. And if you fall behind, don't worry! You can either use the weekends to catch up or you can simply dive in to the reading for that day, even if you've missed a few days, weeks, or even months!
You can download a foldable bookmark here: 2026
3:1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
(ESV)
"Cold" has a bad rap among south Texans. The other day, I was sharing with a congregation member the different places which I have lived. "I grew up in Portland, Oregon, I went to St. Louis for seminary and also spent a year in Chicago." "Portland? St. Louis? Chicago? That sounds cold to me!" came the response. And indeed it could get cold in all of those towns. But then I suffer and sweat through literally weeks of 100 degree plus temperatures. I watch as the lawns around me turn brown and die as we teeter on the precipice of stage three water restrictions. And I think to myself, "Hmm, maybe cold isn't so bad after all."
Like south Texans who pride themselves in their ability to handle warm and even sweltering weather while eschewing the chill that states and cities farther north must regularly endure, "cold" also seems to have a bad rap among Christians. In our reading for today from Revelation 3, Jesus continues his letter writing campaign to seven first century churches, scattered throughout Asia Minor, and he saves his harshest rebuke for the final church he writes to, the church at Laodicea: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (verses 15-16).
Jesus, in his chastisement of the Laodicean church rebukes them for being "neither hot nor cold." Oftentimes, this rebuke is taken as a call to be either "cold" and disparaging of Christ and his gospel or to be "hot" and "on fire," as it were, for Christ and his gospel. In other words, Jesus is calling this church to be either clearly against him or clearly for him. A "lukewarm" and ambiguous attitude toward Jesus just won't do.
Even though this is the way these words are often taken, this is probably not what Jesus meant. Laodicea was infamous for its notoriously terrible water. Their water supply came either from the nearby Lycus River, which was muddy and undrinkable, or from a hot springs in Hierapolis, known for its therapeutic benefits, about five miles to the northeast. Sadly, by the time this water reached Laodicea, it was tepid and stomach turning. Conversely, about eleven miles to the southeast of Laodicea was Colossae, situated on the foot of Mt. Cadmus, which, as the snow from the mountain cap melted, proved to be a source of ice cold and refreshing water. Hot and healing water to the north. Cold and refreshing water to the south. Lukewarm and nauseating water in Laodicea.
Jesus says that Laodicea's ill-famed tepid water is an indicator of the tepidness of their souls. Indeed, this church's tepidness is expressed in one of their creeds: "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing" (verse 17). Their wealth has led to spiritual apathy. But Jesus calls them to something more. Jesus calls them to something better.
Jesus calls the Laodiceans to be hot. For to be hot is to be healing. And this is a noble call. Jesus, when he commissions his disciples, sends them out "to heal every disease and sickness" (Matthew 10:1). Healing for a lost and broken world is sorely needed.
Jesus calls the Laodiceans to be cold. For to be cold is to be refreshing. And this is also a noble call. After commissioning his disciples to be hot and healing, Jesus says to them, "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42). Especially interesting is this adjective "cold." For there was no refrigeration in this day. Thus, the only way to give someone a cold cup of water was to go and draw it afresh from a well. Jesus calls his disciples not to give someone stale, tepid water that has been sitting out, but fresh, cold water. For cold water is refreshing water. As the teacher of Proverbs reminds us: "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land" (Proverbs 25:25). Cold water is good water.
Jesus calls the Laodiceans to be hot. Jesus calls the Laodiceans to be cold. Both are good calls. And both are calls to be for him, not to be against him. "Cold" really does have a bad rap. So today, in the middle of the dog days of summer, be cold refreshment for a human soul and share God's grace. For the message of God's cold refreshing grace can warm a human heart.
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;1
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 for, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the LORD!
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 “All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction;
48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 until the LORD from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies without cause;
53 they flung me alive into the pit2
and cast stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
55 “I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 “You have heard their taunts, O LORD,
all their plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the object of their taunts.
64 “You will repay them,3 O LORD,
according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them4 dullness of heart;
your curse will be5 on them.
66 You will pursue them6 in anger and destroy them
from under your heavens, O LORD.”7
[1] 3:22
[2] 3:53
[3] 3:64
[4] 3:65
[5] 3:65
[6] 3:66
[7] 3:66
(ESV)
In the midst of all his misery and suffering, both his personal suffering and persecution, as well as the terrible suffering accompanying the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah forced himself to remember one thing: "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases." Even when we are unfaithful, God remains faithful, therefore His mercies are new every morning. The prophet reminds us of the same thing Paul said in Romans 5:3: "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." The LORD understands that we sometimes need to be chastened, but because His love is steadfast, He will have compassion on us again. God is not like an evildoer who subverts justice. We should not complain, then, when we are chastened for our sins, instead we should give thanks for the good that God does for us every day. When chastening comes, we need to examine our hearts and lives and repent of our sin. But even when we remember the LORD's faithfulness, His discipline is not pleasant. We feel God's anger and it feels as though our prayers cannot get through to Him. We feel like scum, and sense the judgment of our enemies. Nevertheless, just as God heard Jeremiah's pleas when he was cast into the cistern, so God will hear our prayers and He will come to reassure us: "Do not fear!" We can be confident that just as God ultimately afflicted Babylon for their cruel destruction of Israel, so He will bring relief in our case, even if we are being chastened for our sins, as God's people were.
104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
5 He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11 they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
(ESV)