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!
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12:1 Now concerning1 spiritual gifts,2 brothers,3 I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,5 yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
[1] 12:1
[2] 12:1
[3] 12:1
[4] 12:13
[5] 12:20
(ESV)
My wife Melody and I have known each other for quite a while now. Even though our marriage is a relatively nascent one, we first met in college back in the mid 90's. However, during those years, we never dated and were, at best, only casual acquaintances. So you can imagine my surprise when, one day, after we were already dating, Melody asks me, "Zach, what did you think of me in college? Did you like me at least a little bit?" To which I fumblingly reply, "To be quite honest, I thought nothing of you in college."
Have you ever had one of those experiences where, as soon as certain words fell out of your mouth, you wished you could suck them back in? This was one of those experiences for me. Immediately, knowing how callous my response must have sounded, I began trying to clarify. "Uh, er, what I meant is although I didn't want to date you, I still thought you were a pretty awesome girl." But alas, my words of clarification did not help. The damage had been done. Melody still remembers (and reminds me of) my infamous foot-in-mouth statement.
In today's reading from 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes about the Corinthians' unchristian past: "You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols" (verse 2). There are a couple of words and phrases to take note of to better understand this verse. The first is "influenced." The Greek word for "influenced" is ago, meaning "to lead." Thus, the Corinthians are being led toward mute idols. The second is the phrase, "led astray." In Greek, this word is apago, a cognate of ago, meaning "misled." Unfortunately, the NIV translation, from which I quoted, misses the wordplay between ago and apago in this verse. If I were to translate this, I might translate it, "You guys know that when you were pagans, toward mute idols you were led, that is, misled."
And it is here that we find Paul offering some clarification. But rather than trying to take back some foolish words as I tried to do with Melody, Paul actually strengthens his indictment of the Corinthians' past. Paul says, "In your unchristian past, you were led toward idols. Actually, let me clarify. It's worse than that. You weren't just LED toward idols, you were MISLED toward idols!" For the sake of clarity, Paul replaces his initial word "led" with a more indicting word, "misled." But Paul is concerned not only that he clearly diagnoses sin, he is also concerned that he clearly presents the gospel.
Paul writes in Colossians 4:3-4: "Pray for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it CLEARLY, as I should." Paul's desire is that, whether condemning sin or proclaiming grace, he does it clearly. Paul's desire should be ours as well. Is there a sin, in your life or in the life of another, that you need to confront head on? Paul's admonition to you would be this: be loving, but also be clear! Does someone need to hear the gospel of Christ from your lips? Speaking clearly is more urgent than ever in the face of such a need. So today, I pray that God would give you a clear head so that you can clearly share his Word... and his love!
29:1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.1
3 And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
6 you will be visited by the LORD of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves2 and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,3 but not with wine;
stagger,4 but not with strong drink!
10 For the LORD has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.
[1] 29:2
[2] 29:9
[3] 29:9
[4] 29:9
(ESV)
God addresses Jerusalem, calling it Ariel, meaning "altar hearth," because the Temple with its altar of burnt offering was located there. This proud city would be besieged by God and would become like a hearth for His consuming wrath. God used the Assyrian King to chasten Judah by having him lay siege to the city in 701 BC. Judah would be brought so low that she would speak from the realm of the dead—so much for her pact with death through her pagan idols! But God then promises that the enemies of Judah would be blown away like chaff (the husk of grain that is thrown out and burned). Assyria would not conquer Jerusalem in 701. The city's fall would not come until 586 BC. The siege of Jerusalem that Isaiah speaks of here would be like a bad dream that ends suddenly. Nevertheless, Judah's spiritual blindness was so great that they could not really understand the prophet's words. Their own false prophets and seers were blind. The prophesy of Isaiah was like a sealed scroll they could not read. Many of the words of the prophets in the remaining verses of today's reading are quoted in the New Testament. Jesus quoted verse 13 to show the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. (Mark 7:6) Paul quoted verse 14 to show the foolishness of those who think themselves wise and consider the wisdom of God to be foolish. (1 Corinthians 1:19) Paul refers to verse 16 to show the foolishness of arguing with our sovereign God. (Romans 9:19). The chapter closes with sweet words prophesying deliverance for those who rejoice in the LORD, and judgment for those who mock God.
14 But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go silently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you store them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the LORD,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
22 I had said in my alarm,1
“I am cut off from your sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the LORD, all you his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!
[1] 31:22
(ESV)