Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022
This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT.
Bible Readings: Luke 13
Background:
The themes are not changing much as Jesus continues his ministry. It's about drawing the lines (the narrow door) and confronting the Pharisees over their pettiness and failure to grasp the truth of God, the nature of the kingdom of God, and the ongoing miraculous work of Jesus.
Daily Devotional: The Narrow Door
I am not exactly a small guy - whether you measure me side to side or head to toe. I've had the privilege of exploring some ruins in places like Israel, as well as some old buildings in other parts of the world, and one of the things I noticed with my large frame is how narrow doors used to be and how hard those doors are to get through. I like the big wide doors that I don't have to squeeze through, or duck to avoid hitting my head.
The world likes a wide door as well, the one that everyone else is going through. We like to pretend that we are individuals and style ourselves as unique, but we tend to join with the crowd and go along with everyone else.
Jesus spent a lot of time telling his disciples how his kingdom was different from the ways of the world. In today's readings, he gives the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven which we've covered as they appeared in another context in one of the other gospels. Here in Luke 13:24, Jesus uttered some simple, yet profound words.
The problem is that even though we've been redeemed by Christ and called to the narrow door, the world's wide door still calls as well. We are tempted to align ourselves with the world, to just go along with its values, its ways, and its thinking, instead of taking the narrow door.
But there is no way around it. The call to Christ is the call to counter-culture living, to walking the lonely road. We have a different Lord who calls us to obey him and not the siren call of what is popular and what the world defines as right and wrong. We live by different standards, different morals, and for a different purpose - the glory of God and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.
The world likes a wide door as well, the one that everyone else is going through. We like to pretend that we are individuals and style ourselves as unique, but we tend to join with the crowd and go along with everyone else.
Jesus spent a lot of time telling his disciples how his kingdom was different from the ways of the world. In today's readings, he gives the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven which we've covered as they appeared in another context in one of the other gospels. Here in Luke 13:24, Jesus uttered some simple, yet profound words.
"Strive to enter through the narrow door."This is a command that covers pretty much everything we do in the Christian life and in the kingdom of God. We are narrow-door people. The whole world goes one way and we go another. The whole world floats with the tide and we swim against it. There is a giant tide of hedonism but we continue to strive to enter the narrow door of purity. The world gleefully opens the wide door of materialism but we walk through the narrow door of heavenly treasures. The world unites to pursue ego, selfish ambition, glory, fame, and power while we squeeze through the narrow door of humility and self-denial. The narrow door beckons us.
The problem is that even though we've been redeemed by Christ and called to the narrow door, the world's wide door still calls as well. We are tempted to align ourselves with the world, to just go along with its values, its ways, and its thinking, instead of taking the narrow door.
But there is no way around it. The call to Christ is the call to counter-culture living, to walking the lonely road. We have a different Lord who calls us to obey him and not the siren call of what is popular and what the world defines as right and wrong. We live by different standards, different morals, and for a different purpose - the glory of God and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.
Father, may I daily walk through that narrow door to obey you and walk in your ways.
Consider God's Word:
Is your life shaped by the world and its ideas or by the word of God and the will of God?
Do you walk through the narrow door or the wide?
Do you walk through the narrow door or the wide?
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