Read the Entire Bible in 2020

Now is the perfect time to commit to reading through the Bible in a year. Here are five reasons why you should consider dedicating 365 days to this pursuit. [Read more…]

December 25: Jesus Is Born

Into the darkness of that dank stable, a child is born. Into the darkness of the world, a light shines. From the knotty, gnarled stump of Jesse, a shoot springs up.

This is it. To you is born this day a Savior. A Savior!

The waiting is over. Hope is here. This is the olive branch in the beak of Noah’s dove, the confirmation that all is not lost. Life will flourish again.

[Read more…]

December 24: Journey to Bethlehem

Folks, we’re on our way. We’re on our way to that town that has come up again and again this Advent. We’re on our way to Bethlehem.

We journey with Mary, uncomfortable in the final days of pregnancy. Our bodies are tired and pinched. We’re aching and ready to give birth, to experience the life that lies on the other side of labor. [Read more…]

December 23: Joseph’s Honor

In the story of Jesus’s birth, Joseph plays a bit part. He’s not as central to the narrative as Mary, yet we shouldn’t overlook him. Consider the honor with which he conducts himself. Mary’s miraculous extramarital pregnancy tarnishes both of their reputations. Still, Joseph resolves to “dismiss her quietly,” without fanfare or scandal. He doesn’t want to make things harder for her, this woman he has come to love. [Read more…]

December 22: Mary’s Unexpected Gift

Imagine the ordinariness of this moment: Mary is padding around the house in her socks, wiping the crumbs off the breakfast table and washing the dishes. She stands at the sink, one hand plunged into the dishwater to clean the spoons, the other tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. [Read more…]

December 21: John the Baptist

A lonely voice is carried down the centuries by a dry desert wind: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!

The voice prophesied by Isaiah is growing louder, clearer. Its source is coming into view. It is John the Baptist, calling out to the people of Israel. [Read more…]

December 20: Zechariah’s Gift of Silence

The punishment for Zechariah’s unbelief seems disproportionately harsh: no voice for the duration of Elizabeth’s pregnancy? Really? This punishment comes from a God who says it’s enough to have faith as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). Zechariah doesn’t outright reject the angel’s message, after all. He doesn’t laugh the way Sarah does when she overhears that she will bear a son in her old age (Genesis 18:12). [Read more…]

December 19: Born in Bethlehem

Our ears aren’t accustomed to hearing prophecies. We sure hear a lot of promises—campaign promises, wedding vows, promises from brands that buying their product will improve our quality of life. But those promises are so often broken that we start to think promises hold no real weight. And we might think the same is true of prophecies. They won’t possibly come true, will they? [Read more…]

December 18: Into the Lions’ Den

Don’t mistake Daniel 6 for a children’s story. This is the gruesome stuff of nightmares—a sinister plot to trap Daniel in his singular devotion to the God of Israel, a pit full of hungry wild beasts, and in the end, the mauling and death of whole families, including children, by those lions. [Read more…]

December 17: Jonah and the…Sackcloth?

Let’s play a word association game: I say, “Jonah.” You say, “_____.”

If you said “whale,” I don’t blame you. That’s the first thing that pops into my head, too. If you said “sackcloth,” bonus points for you! Because the story of Jonah doesn’t end in the belly of the fish. The story of Jonah is actually about calling the city of Nineveh to repentance, and that’s exactly what happens. The story doesn’t end until the people listen to Jonah’s message about God, repent of their wrongdoing, and turn to what’s right. [Read more…]