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!
2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course1 of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4 But3 God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,4 but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.
[1] 2:2
[2] 2:3
[3] 2:4
[4] 2:19
[5] 2:22
(ESV)
Works or Workmanship?
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
I just finished reading "Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion." It was interesting to read his own account of his first Tour de France win in 1999 and compare it with Johan Bruyneel's account in his book, "We Might as Well Win." Sometimes when you read two different people's accounts of the same events you will get very different stories. That wasn't the case in this instance. Lance agreed that it was Johan who first made him believe that he could win the Tour de France. Now, it's true that Lance could not have won even once, let alone seven times, without a huge effort on his part. Nevertheless, he may not have won at all, not even once, unless Johan had approached him to say, "I think you can win."
I thought of this when I read Ephesians 2 today. This chapter contains my favorite verses in the whole Bible, the verses I quoted above. In fact, a lot of Christians claim Ephesians 2:8-9 as their favorite Bible verse, but most don't include verse 10. Those first two verses remind us that we can never make ourselves right with God. The third verse gives God the credit for anything good we are able to accomplish.
This is a reminder we desperately need. In our sinfulness, we try to fool ourselves into thinking that we can earn God's favor by the good works that we do, as though, somehow they could offset, overcome or compensate for the sin in our lives. Because of our sinful pride we want the credit for those good deeds to go to us, as though we were responsible for them.
Our sinful pride tempts us to think that our situation is like Lance Armstrong's. His victory was initiated by the encouragement of Johan Bruyneel who convinced him that he could win. In a sense, you could say that Lance was Johan's "workmanship" because he prepared Lance in advance to win the Tour. But Lance knows very well how much training, effort, pain and suffering went into those victories on his part. Therefore, while some of the credit for Lance's victories should go to Johan, much of the praise is due to Lance for his own hard work.
The reality of our situation is completely different. In our situation all of the credit, praise and glory belongs to God and God alone. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God planned for us to complete long ago, in fact, before the foundation of the world. The fact that we are able to do anything good is not because of ourselves. It's entirely because of God and His grace at work in us, as Paul said in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Thus, if there is anything good in me, or if I am able to accomplish any good in my life, it is all because of Christ! The good in me is not my own, it is only because Christ lives in me and works through me.
I highly doubt that Lance Armstrong would ever give all the credit for his Tour de France wins to Johan Bruyneel. Some of it, yes. All of it, no. But that is exactly what we must do. We must give all the credit, all the glory and all the praise for every good work to God and God alone. God tells us that "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) Only through faith in Christ do we become God's workmanship, new creations who are able to do the good works that God planned for eternity for us to accomplish to His glory. So thank God that you are saved by Him, not by your works. Thank God that it's His workmanship that matters, not your own works. On our own, we could never win, not even once.
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor1 a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish2 the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.
21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,3
23 and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,4
and I will say to Not My People,5 ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
3:1 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech6 of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.
[1] 2:15
[2] 2:18
[3] 2:22
[4] 2:23
[5] 2:23
[6] 3:2
(ESV)
God's love for His wayward people never ends. He promises to "allure her," captivating her to follow Him as she had in the wilderness, and promising to restore her blessings. God will win her heart again so that she will answer Him, as in the days of the Exodus. Israel will forsake Baal and call the LORD, "My Husband." The vision painted by Hosea's words encompasses not only the restored Israel returning to the Promised Land, but also the people of God in the eternal Jerusalem. God promised to betroth His people "in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy." All of these words portray the grace of God toward His unfaithful people, whom He will now make righteous, justly forgiving their sins because of His steadfast love and mercy. God's faithfulness will overcome Israel's rebellion. God's grace will reverse His judgment so that mercy will be shown to "no mercy," and "not my people" will hear the covenant promise fulfilled: "You are my people." All of this would only be complete, of course, through the New Covenant and the work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In order to demonstrate what God was going to do in Christ, therefore, God commanded Hosea to go and "redeem" his adulterous wife Gomer from the man she was living with. This was a parallel to what God would do initially in restoring Israel from exile, and completely in Jesus, who redeemed us by his death on the cross. He is depicted in Hosea's prophecy as "David their King." As a result of God's mercy and grace, "they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days." This parallels what Jeremiah said about the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:34: "No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me."
18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
20 Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
26 The people curse him who holds back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.
27 Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,1
but evil comes to him who searches for it.
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.
31 If the righteous is repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
[1] 11:27
(ESV)