I’m a fan of Bible reading plans that consistently provide multiple “touchpoints” throughout God’s big book. Here’s our approach at Laurel Canyon:
- Each Sunday we read a psalm (to lift our hearts in worship)
- Each weekday we read a chapter from the Gospels (to fix our eyes on Jesus), a chapter from the Book of Acts or one of the New Testament epistles (to refresh ourselves on what it means to be followers of Jesus), and a chapter from the Old Testament (to expand our knowledge of God’s great plan to save mankind)
- Each Saturday we read a chapter from Proverbs (to grow in wisdom)
You can download this month’s daily Bible reading calendar here.
Today’s reading included Nahum 2, Mark 4, and 2 Corinthians 2. While those chapters aren’t commonly grouped together, they provided a beautiful snapshot of the gospel for me first thing this morning.
In Nahum 2 God’s prophet is foretelling the destruction of Nineveh.
Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts… (2:13)
While those words were directed toward a specific city at a specific point in history, the terrifying principle is universal.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil… (Psa 34:16)
I don’t care what you’re faced with today, nothing in the span of human existence is more tragic than the Lord of hosts being against you.
Mark 4 took us into a boat with Jesus and his disciples.
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:37-41)
In 2 Corinthians 2:14 we hear Paul exclaiming, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ Jesus always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
Nahum 2, Mark 4, and 2 Corinthians 2. Three distinct chapters from the Bible; but read them together, and they give a tiny glimpse of gospel grandeur.
- The face of the Lord is against those who do evil
- The Son of God entered human history and he CARES
- In Christ Jesus the redeemed of God are led in triumphal procession
- Now, our great privilege is to spread the knowledge of him everywhere
Those are truths worth living by today.
