Category: Growth (Page 8 of 15)

On January 1, I plan to start reading the Bible through from cover to cover. I’ll finish sometime in December. Want to join me?

I would suggest that you read the Bible all the way through for a variety of reasons (here are only a few):

If you want to live a life of faith, then you need to read the entire Bible.

If you want God to move in your life, then you need to read the entire Bible. Remember, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

If you want to be blessed in the eyes of the Lord, then delight in the law of the Lord, and meditate on it day and night. You will live like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. So that in all that you do, you prosper (Psalm 1).

If you desire peace, if you seek wisdom, if you wish for relief from your social media feed, if you need power to overcome the traps of the world, the flesh and the devil, then read the entire Bible.

If you yearn for truth, especially in this world of disinformation, then read the entire Bible.

Your time, your attention and your energy are precious and limited. Why waste them? Invest it in the living words of God this year. All of them. You’ll be happy you did.

Want to join me? If so, drop me a note in some fashion and we’ll keep in touch as we journey through the scriptures together!

I can never get beyond the fact that the first people to whom God chose to announce the birth of his son where shepherds. Not kings. Not wealthy businessmen. Not princesses or priests. Ordinary, dirty, smelly, shepherds.

Blue collar, these herders possessed neither power or education. They lived away from polite society. They had nothing to give Jesus. Which is perhaps the point.

Of many lessons we can draw from the story found in Luke chapter two, the most compelling to me is the reminder that everyone, even the lowliest in our estimation, remains valuable to God, including those magnificent shepherds.

The Lord chose to first announce the greatest birth in all history, the birth of our Savior, to people on the bottom rung of society. Something for us to ponder during the busy rush of consumption this time of year.

Soon after Jesus was born, Magi, or wise men, arrived from the East to worship the new child king. Entering Jerusalem, they created a stir, disturbing King Herod and the entire city (it’s been said that the entire city was upset along with the king, because the king was paranoid and tended to kill people when stressed).

Herod called the chief priests and teachers together to find out where the Messiah was to be born. Bethlehem was the answer and when Herod later talked to the Magi in secret he shared this knowledge. The Magi promptly boarded their camels and went to find Jesus.

As the Magi carried on, the teachers and the priests apparently went home. After hearing the wondrous tale of a Messiah only a few miles away, one group of learned men went to find the child, while others couldn’t be bothered.

Why do some people find Jesus so fascinating while others turn away? In this case the religious teachers, who knew the scriptures in depth, didn’t believe a Messiah could be present in their midst. They knew their religious legends, but lost the possibility of a living Lord. The Magi, on the other hand, heard the legends, followed the star, and worshipped the king.

As you enter this Christmas season, where will you turn, toward the King in your midst, or toward the safety of ordinary life? Like the Magi, I suggest that you travel a bit farther to Bethlehem. The last few miles make all the difference.