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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8:1 We want you to know, brothers,1 about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor2 of taking part in the relief of the saints—5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you3—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going4 to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending5 the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers6 of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.
[1] 8:1
[2] 8:4
[3] 8:7
[4] 8:17
[5] 8:18
[6] 8:23
(ESV)
"Job Losses Could Worsen Through Next Year." "12.5 Million Are Unemployed in US." "Senate Moves to Give FDIC $500 Billion Loan." These are just a few of the headlines I scanned this past Friday which told of our country's imperiled economic state. As the week wrapped up, the Dow Jones closed at 6,626.94. That's down over 50% from the Dow's record high of 14.087.55 on October 1, 2007. Is anybody worried yet? Actually, is anybody not worried yet?
In this kind of economic climate, Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8 probably strike many of us as offensively jarring and hopelessly irrelevant and impractical: "But just as you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us - see that you also excel in the grace of giving" (verse 7). Now, before you stop reading because you think I'm going to lecture you on the glories of tithing and try to guilt you into giving more money to the church even as we're being asphyxiated by the confines of an impossibly volatile economy, let me assure you, that's not what this blog is about. Actually, this blog is more about "excelling." Paul says that we, as Christians, "excel in everything." Really? I'm not sure much of anything has its foot on the accelerator right now. The stock market is down. Home values are down. Available credit lines are down. Job postings are down. Profits are down. And quite frankly, people are down too. There are a lot of people who feel down and out these days. In fact, the only story I've heard lately of something excelling comes out of the Dollar Store. Apparently, rocky financial times are good for the discount chain's business.
During these down times, what is it that we can possibly excel at? Paul gives us a list. When our country's stock market is down, we have an opportunity to excel in our faith as we trust that Christ will provide for our daily needs. When pecuniary pundits are talking down our economy, we have a chance to excel in encouraging speech as we hold out the hope of the gospel. When we feel down as we watch our economy collapse in real time on CNBC, we have an opportunity to excel in our knowledge of Scripture as we read God's Word and trust in his promises to get us through. As people's morale goes down at the specter of more layoffs and massive job cuts, we can excel in earnestness as we continue to work at the jobs we have or search for the one we need. As people's support systems go down in the face of stress and bad news, we can excel in our love for those who are hurting deeply. And finally, as people's bank accounts go down - and that includes our bank accounts possibly - we can excel in the grace of giving.
It's that final call to excel that gets us, isn't it? Excel in giving? How can we when we have nothing to give? First, it is worth noting that our giving need not be exclusively monetary. We can give of our time, talents, and energies, all for the sake of others. In a sense, all of the things which Paul calls us to excel at - faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love - fall under the "grace of giving" because they can all be given away to others. Second, whatever you give, remember that excellence in giving, or in anything else, is never done under duress. In other words, you can't force excellence. It must be willingly engaged. Paul knows this full well. That's why, right after Paul encourages the Corinthians to excel, he says, "I am not commanding you" (verse 8). Paul knows that excellence can never be forced. That is why excellence in giving is called a "grace."
Speaking of grace, Paul wraps up his discussion on graceful excellence by reminding us of the one who is most gracefully excellent of all: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes become poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (verse 9). Paul says that Jesus excelled in poverty so that we could excel in richness where being rich really counts: richness in forgiveness, richness in life, and richness in salvation. And in a down economy, these may be the only riches we have. Then again, in any economy, these are the only riches we finally need. For those are the only riches which finally last. So let's excel in those.
42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged1
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the LORD,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the LORD; I have called you2 in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The LORD goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14 For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,3
and dry up the pools.
16 And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”
18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,4
or blind as the servant of the LORD?
20 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
[1] 42:4
[2] 42:6
[3] 42:15
[4] 42:19
(ESV)
Isaiah 42 begins with one of the "Servant Songs" that speak of the Messiah. God says: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him." Clearly, this prophecy was fulfilled in the baptism of Jesus. "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3:16-17) The wonderful message of God's grace in Jesus can be heard in the promise, "a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench." Jesus established justice for each of us by His death on the cross to pay the debt of our sin. God says, "I will give you as a covenant for the people," since it was through Jesus that the New Covenant was instituted to fulfill the Old Covenant that had been broken by God's rebellious people. This covenant is not limited to Israel, but is for the benefit of all mankind. Therefore, the fitting response is: "Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth." Nothing can prevent God from accomplishing this when "he stirs up his zeal." Several times God promises that His Servant will be a light for the nations, however, those who trust in idols will be "utterly put to shame." God then contrasts His Messianic Servant with His servant Israel, who is blind and deaf to God's truth. Israel refused to hear God's commands and failed to observe them. Therefore, God declares that He will give them up to be plundered and looted. Sadly, even the chastening blows that God allowed to fall on Israel did not bring repentance. "So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart." As a result, when the Messiah was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, John was forced to say: "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." (John 1:11)
38:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
(ESV)