Daily Readings for January 26 – February 1

January 25, 2026January 22, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers:

For those looking for a Bible reading plan, each week in 2026 I will post 2 chapters to read per day as a main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2026, I’ll post the extra chapters to read that week. The main readings will include nearly all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Prophets, and a few other Old Testament books.

Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings will be about 9 chapters per week. These readings will cover the Pentateuch, the OT histories, a few other OT books, plus Jude and Revelation from the NT.

I hope this encourages others to read and study their Bible more, whatever parts they decide to read. Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

This week we finish our first book (Matthew) and start a book I think is greatly under-rated, Ecclesiastes.

2 chapter a day plan:

Monday, January 26: Psalm 26, Matthew 26
Tuesday, January 27: Psalm 27, Matthew 27
Wednesday, January 28: Psalm 28, Matthew 28
Thursday, January 29: Psalm 29, Ecclesiastes 1
Friday, January 30: Psalm 30, Ecclesiastes 2
Saturday, January 31: Psalm 31, Ecclesiastes 3
Sunday, February 1: Psalm 32, Ecclesiastes 4

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026:
Genesis 34 – 42

Fruitful Religion

January 24, 2026January 23, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Before Jesus began His public ministry, John the Baptist announced Jesus’ coming and prepared people for His message. This, of course, generated opposition, and when the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to confront John, he told them to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance…Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”[1]

Since Pharisees and Sadducees were often hypocrites, this is usually interpreted as John telling them to practice good works that flow from an inner righteousness, instead of keeping up a merely external appearance of following God. I agree this is a correct interpretation, but I also think there is more than that to the fruit that John spoke of.

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Could this also be part of the fruit John wanted his opposition to produce?

Perhaps John was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that their religion didn’t produce “love, joy, peace”, and the other characteristics listed by Paul. Jesus pointed out the lack of love in the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the religious leaders of His time would rather leave a man dying on the side of the road than break what they saw as legal obligations. But did the Pharisees and others also lack joy and peace? Since they strived to obey God’s law perfectly (but only on the outside) they likely felt constant pressure to live up to God’s perfect standards, instead of peace with their Maker. Their relationships with others, who they saw as inferior to them, were distant and cold at best. “Against these things there is no law,” yet the Pharisees and Sadducees failed to practice them. They not only felt no joy or peace, but they also robbed others of their joy and peace by making them feel unworthy of God’s love. They showed no kindness or patience to others. They were not faithful to God by being gentle with people who were not like them. They did not “bear fruit in keeping with repentance,” as John the Baptist said.

It’s easy to judge the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, since Jesus clearly exposed their inadequacies. However, it’s a difficult challenge to ask ourselves: does our religion bear this fruit for us? Does our practice of Christianity result in not only loving actions toward our neighbors, but also “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” for ourselves?

Do we experience joy and peace in our relationship with God, or do we feel grief that we can’t live up to His expectations and do we still feel like God is disappointed in us? Do we practice kindness and patience with others? Are we gentle with those enslaved by the brokenness that rules this world? Do we submit ourselves to the control of our God, who tells us to love Him and love our neighbor no matter what?

Fortunately for us, our salvation does not depend on our faithfulness, but on His faithfulness. As 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can never come to God too late or too often to ask for forgiveness and restoration. His love for His people is steadfast and His faithfulness is without end or limit. He is always willing to bring us back to the path that yields fruit for the Kingdom. Jesus on the cross purchased for us a way to bear fruit!

Therefore, pray that we can all “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Fruit that brings us joy and peace, and that brings Him glory.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

[1] Matthew 5:8, 10

Cleaning the Conscience

January 23, 2026January 22, 2026Todd R 1 Comment

A great thing about Psalms is that they are written general enough to be used by different people in different ways. Psalm 19 makes a great prayer for anyone and is one of my favorite Psalms. In it, David writes about how creation proclaims the glory of God in ways that everyone everywhere can see and understand. This is what we’d call “general revelation.” Next David writes about the law of God, how it is “perfect,” “pure,” “true,” and several other things. This law also glorifies God, in what we’d call “special revelation,” or things revealed about God mostly through His word.

Then, after a brief interlude, the Psalm ends with verse 14, which says:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

What a closing to a prayer!

The Lord, as “my rock and my redeemer,” rules nature (the literal rocks, etc.) and His Word redeems His people. How can our “words” and “meditation” be acceptable to such a God? The answer is first, because He loves us enough to redeem us, and second, because He is transforming us into people who are like Him. In fact, the “interlude” I referred to before (verses 12 and 13) are David’s prayer that God would keep him from sin and make him acceptable in God’s sight. Those verses say:

“Who can discern his errors?
            Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
            let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
            and innocent of great transgression.

David first points out that we can’t find any errors in God, either in what’s revealed by nature or in His law, but on the other hand God knows all of our faults. David knows better than to ask God to show him all of his flaws – that may be overwhelming – but instead David asks for a clear conscience. To get there, David needs a solution for both his “presumptuous sins” – the outward actions that he’s probably aware of – and his “hidden faults” – the inner attitudes and sins that he may not be aware of. To be declared innocent and blameless by God requires being forgiven for sins that we don’t even know about!

Which brings us back to the final verse:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”

In my reading of this, “the words of my mouth” correspond to the “presumptuous sins,” the sinful outer actions taken in defiance of God, and “the meditation of my heart” corresponds to David’s (and our) “hidden faults.” These sins may be secret to everyone but God but we may feel guilty about them anyway. When praying this prayer, David knows only God can cleanse him (or anyone) beyond just skin deep, and beyond skin deep is what we really need to deal with because Jesus told us “every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.”[1] Only by healing the inside can we heal the outside. David asks for relief from guilt so he can live acceptably in both public and private ways, before both men and before God.

We all need routine cleaning of our inner self on a regular basis. A redirection of our conscience toward right and wrong as defined by God. If you feel in need of this, try praying Psalm 19 today.

[1] Matthew 7:17

Letting God Be Your Vision

January 22, 2026January 21, 2026Todd R 1 Comment

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.” – Ecclesiastes 5:1

When recently reading Ecclesiastes I was initially put off by the seeming harshness of this verse. What sort of sacrifice to God is foolish, or even evil? What is this verse of the Bible I believe in telling me to do, or not to do, and how does it point to Christ?

Then I was reminded of Micah 6:6-8:
“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

When Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross, He was saying His sacrifice is enough and it is all we need. We don’t go to church to negotiate with or bargain with God. We cannot impress God. We can offer nothing He does not already have and has not already provided. This is good news!

We only offer ourselves in worship. We “draw near to listen”, to know Him, and to follow Him. Take a listen to one of my favorite hymns today and just be available for whatever He has in store for you. He is enough for you, and for the world.