Here is the list of readings for this week. Each week I will post 2 chapters to read per day as the main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2025, I’ll post the extra chapters needed for that goal. The main readings will include all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, the Pentateuch, Ecclesiastes, 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.
Follow along (or not) any way you choose! I will often re-post old blogs that comment on the chapters in this schedule.
Monday, February 3: Psalm 34, Genesis 34 Tuesday, February 4: Psalm 35, Genesis 35 Wednesday, February 5: Psalm 36, Genesis 36 Thursday, February 6: Psalm 37, Genesis 37 Friday, February 7: Psalm 38, Genesis 38 Saturday, February 8: Psalm 39, Genesis 39 Sunday, February 9: Psalm 40, Genesis 40
Additional readings if you want to read the whole Bible this year: 2 Samuel 13 – 21
Years ago, I heard a sermon illustration about a parent looking out the window and seeing their kids playing with a skunk. Naturally, they yelled out to the kids “get away from there and come inside!” The kids quickly came inside but brought the skunk with them! The point of the story is that when we want to help others, sometimes their problems become our problems. There is a cost to truly loving others.
The same principle comes out of the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the well-known parable a man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of a road. First a priest, and then a Levite, passed him by. But a Samaritan, a member of a group despised by many Jews, stopped and helped the man. This help had a significant cost, as described in Luke 10:34-35:
“He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”
Here’s a list of what the Good Samaritan provided for the man in these two verses:
Likely some kind of cloth to bind the wounds. He likely tried to use the cleanest cloth he had with him and ripped or cut it as needed.
Oil and wine, which he “poured” on the man’s wounds. He is more concerned about treating the man than about pouring out too much.
A ride on his own animal. The Samaritan walked alongside, giving the man the more comfortable trip to the inn.
Money. Denarii is the plural of denarius, which was about a day’s wages for a laborer. The Samaritan spent at least two days wages (“two denarii”) and promised to pay more if needed.
Ongoing care and concern. The Samaritan promised to pay “when I come back.” He was going to make a return trip to the inn to check up on the man.
Contrast this to the priest and Levite, who both “passed by on the other side” to avoid being contaminated by the man, who appeared dead. The Samaritan was more concerned about providing help than about whether he would become ceremonially unclean.
Loving people often has costs, including significant ones and ones we don’t anticipate, like the skunk that ended up in the house in the opening example. While we can’t help everyone in need that we come across, and we’re unlikely to come across someone beat up and left for dead, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” – James 2:15-16
“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something” – Max Lucado
Psalm 100 is “A Psalm for giving thanks.” Yesterday’s post focused on the first three verses, and today’s covers the last two, which continue the Psalmist’s encouragement to personally join them in thanksgiving.
Psalm 100:4 reads:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Verse 3 ended describing us as God’s sheep, and as our Shepherd, He guides us into His presence. At the time the Psalm was written, this would probably be in His temple, but for us it is whenever we worship in public or in private. Does our worship involve willing and joyful giving of thanks, praise, and blessing to God? Or do we sometimes worship reluctantly? Do we feel we don’t measure up to what God expects? In case we need encouragement, the Psalmist continues with verse 5:
“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
Like verse 3 covered yesterday, this verse is a list of things to be thankful for. A list of reasons we can enter His gates and courts with thanksgiving and praise:
“For the LORD is good” – We can approach God and worship Him because He is good “his steadfast love endures forever” – We can approach Him because His love is steadfast “and his faithfulness to all generations.” – We can approach Him because of His faithfulness
It is His characteristics that make Him love us, and His character endures forever. If we have lacked goodness, love, or faithfulness since we last met with God, His love for us in Christ overcomes it all. His nature is 100% reliable, and worthy of our thanksgiving!
Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms, being thankful for His character regardless of how your day is going, or how you feel. He wants to walk through it with you. Be thankful!
When reading the Psalms we should keep in mind that the writers aren’t just trying to teach us about God, but they are trying to share their experience of Him. Some Psalms give us instructions like “sing to the LORD a new song” in Psalm 96. Psalm 100 is “A Psalm for giving thanks,” and like Psalm 96, spells out ideas for doing it. Today will focus on the first three verses, and tomorrow on the last 2.
Psalm 100 begins with:
“A Psalm for giving thanks.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
First, the Psalmist wants the whole earth to make a joyful noise, but notes that singing and making a joyful noise are not the only part of giving thanks. We are encouraged to thank God by serving Him, not reluctantly, but to serve with the same gladness we have when we sing in worship.
The third verse reads like a list of things to be thankful for. When we feel like there’s nothing to be thankful for, or no motivation to serve, consider:
“Know that the LORD, he is God!” – Our Lord is not powerless, He is God! “It is he who made us, and we are his” – We are not accidents of a mindless nature, we are His! “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” – We do not have to wander aimlessly through life, not knowing where we are going, we belong to a flock and our Shepherd provides us pasture!
Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms, carrying these instructions into your daily circumstances.
Sometimes we fall into a pattern of trying to rely on our own merit to please God. We try our hardest to do everything we think He wants us to do in order to earn His love. We live like the classic hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” was changed to “Great is My Faithfulness.” We put our hope in our own efforts to earn our salvation.
Hebrews 10:23, which says “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” helps explain why we’d much rather have it be “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” This verse reminds us that He is faithful and is worth putting our hope in. In contrast we are often unfaithful and disappoint ourselves, falling short of the ideals we strive to achieve. We can hold fast to our hope, because it’s based on His promises.
Earlier, Hebrews 6:19 says “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” where “this” refers to the promises of God that were fulfilled by the life of Jesus and give us access to God’s presence. Counting on our own faithfulness is like being on a ship that attaches its anchor to itself, and the captain wonders why the ship keeps drifting uncontrollably. So, as the verse says, we must attach our anchor to something else (God’s promises), because an anchor is only as good as what it’s attached to. Something solid is needed, and God’s promises in Jesus are a solid, unchanging thing we can cling to at all times.
If we relied on our own faithfulness for salvation, every time we disappoint God, we would have to worry about losing our salvation, our place in God’s family. We would have no security, no way to avoid “wavering.” Our faithlessness discourages us, but His faithfulness gives us hope and strength.
God is faithful and worthy of our trust. As the hymn declares about Him:
“There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.”
We can “hold fast” to Him in all times and in all circumstances. All of the Old Testament testifies to God’s faithfulness toward His people, and the New Testament testifies to the fulfillment of God’s promises in the life and work of Jesus. Therefore, His faithfulness is backed up by centuries of history, and through His grace, He offers salvation to His people. As Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”. Even our faith is a gift from God, based on His faithfulness, not ours, and given in His grace. When our faith wavers, His does not.
Therefore, thank God that our hope is in His faithfulness, not in ours. Our faithfulness is far too uncertain, but through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus we inherit Christ’s own merit in the eyes of God and couldn’t please Him anymore no matter what we do.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful”
