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My (Nate’s) hope/aim is to share a brief word each day from the passages I’ve read in my time with Jesus. This year I’m reading through the Bible. I did this for several years but in the last two years, I took a break and did a more concentrated reading through single books of the Bible, rather than large chunks. The plan I’m using can be found here.

This plan is a 5-day plan, rather than 7 days a week. Per Tim Challies,

It is a 5-day plan. A benefit of a 5-day plan (as opposed to a 7-day plan) is that there is less chance of falling far behind. At 5 days per week it is far more doable than at 7 days—there is always a chance to catch up. Also, it allows a day or two of reading something different for those who, for example, like to read and ponder the sermon text on a Sunday morning (or for those who don’t do personal devotions on Sunday).

If you would like to receive the daily devotional you can simply follow this blog where you’ll then receive an email each time a new post is published. The daily devotion maybe commentary on a verse or the passage, some questions of reflection or application, or even a prayer that the Spirit of God brings to my mind as I read the Bible.

Today, the reading was Genesis 1-2, Psalm 19, and Mark 1. Here are some brief thoughts on Genesis 1-2:

In reading Genesis 1, I’m reminded of this truth: The King of the universe created the world with His powerful word. There are a lot of amazing feats humanity has accomplished and will accomplish in the future, but no one can create something from nothing; God is indeed powerful

Additionally, in thinking about Genesis I remember a quote from Abraham Kuruvilla who wrote a commentary on Genesis. His words are very helpful when you think about the purpose of Genesis.

The biblical account of creation is a specific and tactical polemic (argument) against the threats going on around Israel and exhorting them to be faithful to the true, living, and powerful God. Moses isn’t interested in debates surrounding the age of the universe, biological evolution. His concerns were exclusively religious in content, over against other so called “truths” or “religions.”

Last thought (I promise 😁). Genesis 2 is the famous passage where we see Moses writing about God creating human beings in His image. He created them male and female. Brett McCracken writes,  “as much as contemporary Western culture tries to suggest otherwise, the difference of male and female exists and matters. And it is not just random difference, but complementary difference—a difference that indicates the two were made for each other. Woman and man are sort of like a lock and key OR a puzzle.