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)
The other day, I was updating some information on my Facebook profile. Under a section titled "Personal Interests," I came across the obligatory list of "Favorites," a standard feature of every social networking site. Favorite music? Anything country. Favorite movie? Shawshank Redemption. Favorite book? Hmmm, let me think real hard. Perhaps I should go with the Bible. Favorite quotation? From my favorite book, of course: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
We all have favorites. My favorite color is green. My favorite team is the Texas Longhorns. My favorite food is cheese. For all the favorites we're allowed to have, however, there are some instances when playing favorites is generally considered taboo. Parents, for instance, are not supposed play favorites amongst their children. Pastors, like myself, are not supposed to play favorites amongst people in their congregation. Do you want to know a secret, though? I play favorites. In fact, I have a favorite member. She's five foot four, has curly brown hair, beautiful blue eyes, and an effervescent personality that brings me ever-increasing joy. Her name is Melody. And the best part is, she's not only a congregational member, she's also my wife.
This may come as a surprise to you, but just like I play favorites with my wife, God plays favorites too. Indeed, this is precisely Paul's assertion in our reading for today from Ephesians 2: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (verses 8-9). Paul here decries the deficiency of human works while extolling the complete sufficiency of God's grace for salvation. The Greek word for "grace" is charis, meaning "favor." In other words, God's favor toward you serves as the source of your salvation. You are God's favorite!
On Saturday, the Christian Church will celebrate the 492nd anniversary of its Reformation, traditionally commemorated when a monk named Martin Luther nailed ninety-five theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, protesting the false doctrines and practices which had arisen in the Roman Catholic Church of his day. At the heart of Luther's Reformation was an insistence that we cannot earn God's favor, or grace, but that God freely gives it because of the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Before Luther properly understood God's grace, he lived in paralyzing anxiety, always afraid that his sin would turn back God's favor and instead incite God's wrath. But then he discovered the beautiful promise of Ephesians 2: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves... " Our works, no matter how pious, do not make us God's favorites. Rather, God freely and recklessly plays favorites with those who are undeserving and ill-deserving out of his love and because of his Son. As Luther himself so eloquently says:
Grace is freely given to the most undeserving and unworthy and is not obtained by any strenuous efforts, endeavors, or works, either small or great, not even by the efforts of the best and most honorable men who have sought and followed righteousness with a burning zeal. (What Luther Says, 1840)
You are God's favorite! This is the message of the Reformation and, more importantly, this is the message of the gospel. When humans play favorites with others, it usually leads to jealousy, suspicion, and dissension. But when God plays favorites with us, it leads to our salvation. Praise be to God for his charis - his favoritism!
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)