Week 1 in Review
Here we are at the end of week 1 of our Bible Reading Challenge. We’ve just finished reading the entire gospel of John. I’ve heard a lot over the past week about how people have been deeply encouraged by things that they have noticed or learned for the first time in this reading! People are reading together with their children or with their spouses at bedtime, or starting chats to discuss the reading with family members and friends in other provinces. I would love to hear how you are connecting and discussing what you’ve been reading! I would just like to a highlight a few points that stood out to me or that I was told about, please feel free to add what stuck out to you in the comment section below!
Did anyone else notice in John how often Jesus refers to himself or is referred to as the Light? We’ve got John 1:4-9, 3:19-21, 8:12, 9:5, 12:35-36 and 12:44-46 (and a few other less direct references). I think this is something that John wants us to pay attention to! It’s easy for us to miss the importance of Jesus being the light when in today’s world light is something so easily come by. Think though about a time in your life when you were searching in the dark for something and had no light, fumbling around, lost and not sure what to try next. That is us in our lives as Christians without Jesus and his Word. Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
How blessed are we that we have so much access today to the light of Jesus’ word? And speaking of being blessed, how about John 6:37? It says “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” What a wonderful picture of the sovereignty of our God and the assurance of our salvation.
Church, if any of you haven’t started the challenge yet, have fallen behind, or are discouraged for any other reason, please do not let that be the reason you quit or never start. Jump in with the reading on Monday, get in community and spend time asking your heavenly Father to help you. This feast is not a timed or exclusive event, you can join in at anytime, so join and be encouraged! Let’s feast together!