Scripture text for Wednesday, May 12th, 2010: Peter 1:1 – 2:12

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We put a new roof on our house a few years back and right away the first time I cleaned out the gutters I could see that gravel from the new roofing tiles was coming off the tiles into the gutter – it was wearing out bit by bit from day one! Similarly, the previous owners of the house had installed new siding on the garage. It looked great when we bought the house, but now it has tears in a few places and is bent in others. You get the idea – everywhere I turn I see a house that is degrading! What is more, everywhere you and I look around us we see the same thing from our houses to our cars to our very bodies. You may be wondering when and if I can find a way to make this a bit more positive … this is where the text comes in. Peter describes “an inheritance that can never spoil or perish” (v. 4). I think this is actually hard for us to fully comprehend since nothing in this world functions in this way.

Scripture text for Tuesday, May 11th, 2010: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:2

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Last night at the Monday night Men’s Bible study we were discussing the various arguments that non-Christians make against the validity of Christianity. One of their most common arguments is that Christians are hypocrites because we worship a God that calls us towards right living, yet repeatedly choose wrongly.

Our critics are absolutely right. We do often choose wrongly despite our devotion to a good and perfect God. We do often behave as misfits and do all sorts of things that are inconsistent with the life of Jesus. We are not proud of these sins, but we would be lying if we said they did not exist.

Scripture text for Monday, May 10th, 2010: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

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I didn’t intend to choose 1 Corinthians 13, I signed up for a Monday so that knew I would have time to work on my devotional Sunday night. Then tonight, I realized what I signed up for. My wife even made the comment, “Yeah, I was surprised that you signed up for that passage.” I don’t particularly like the passage because it is read at every wedding, many of them Christian, in name only. There is nothing wrong with the text itself, I have simply heard it recited so many times, it begins to ring hollow in my heart.

Scripture text for Friday, May 7th, 2010: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

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I can usually judge the current state of my relationship with God by asking what currently gets me excited. What is it in life right now that I am pursuing most aggressively? What do I find most important? What do I look forward to?

Some days it is a weekend away full of relaxation and no worries. Other times it is a new cell phone or other piece of technology. And still others times it might be success at some task. None of these things are inherently evil or even wrong, but when they become as far as I can see into the future I know that my focus is on the rubble of this earth.

Scripture text for Thursday, May 6th, 2010: 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8

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“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17

I grew up in a Christian home, but when I started making my faith my own during my high school years, I actually hid from my parents that I was reading the Bible; I didn’t want to be “caught” reading the Bible. That sounds so silly to me now, but I didn’t like them making a big deal out of some things, and I thought they might. A little later in college, I became involved with Campus Crusade for Christ and was discipled by a godly woman a few years older than me, and I learned about having “quiet times,” and I’m not referring to naps! In my naiveté, I just imagined all the Christians in my family taking an hour with the Lord each day, and how well they must’ve been hiding it. I wanted to get in on it, so I jumped right in.