Read: Ezra 9:1-9

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 62-64; 1 Timothy 1

Ezra . . . was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses. —Ezra 7:6

“He thinks he’s really something!” That was my friend’s assessment of a fellow Christian we knew. We thought we saw in him a spirit of pride. We were saddened when we learned that he soon was caught in some serious misdeeds. By elevating himself, he had found nothing but trouble. We realized that could happen to us as well.

It can be easy to minimize the terrible sin of pride in our own hearts. The more we learn and the more success we enjoy, the more likely we are to think we’re “really something.” Pride is at the core of our nature.

In Scripture, Ezra is described as “a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6). King Artaxerxes appointed him to lead an expedition of Hebrew exiles back to Jerusalem. Ezra could have been a prime candidate to succumb to the sin of pride. Yet he didn’t. Ezra didn’t only know God’s law; he lived it.

After his arrival in Jerusalem, Ezra learned that Jewish men had married women who served other gods, defying God’s express directions (9:1-2). He tore his clothes in grief and prayed in heartfelt repentance (vv. 5-15). A higher purpose guided Ezra’s knowledge and position: his love for God and for His people. He prayed, “Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence” (v. 15).

Ezra understood the scope of their sins. But in humility he repented and trusted in the goodness of our forgiving God. —Tim Gustafson

Lord, fill us with such a love for You that we think first of what will please You, not ourselves. Free us from the subtle captivity of our own pride.

Pride leads to every other vice: It is the complete anti-God state of mind. C. S. Lewis

Read: Psalm 25:4-11

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 50-52; 1 Thessalonians 5

Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. —Jeremiah 6:16

A fishing buddy of mine told me about an alpine lake located high on the north flank of Jughandle Mountain here in Idaho. Rumor had it that large cutthroat trout lurked up there. My friend got a pencil and scrap of napkin and drew a map for me. Several weeks later I gassed up my truck and set out to follow his directions.

His map put me on one of the worst roads I’ve ever driven! It was an old logging road that had been bulldozed through the forest and never regraded. Washouts, fallen timber, deep ruts, and large rocks battered my spine and bent the undercarriage of my truck. It took half a morning to reach my destination, and when I finally arrived I asked myself, “Why would a friend send me up a road like this?”

But the lake was magnificent and the fish were indeed large and scrappy! My friend had put me on the right road—one I would have chosen myself and patiently endured had I known what I knew at the end.

There is a faithful saying: “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant” (Ps. 25:10). Some of God’s paths for us are rough and rugged, others tedious and boring, but all are filled with His love and faithfulness. When we come to the end of our journey and know what we then will know, we will say, “God’s path was best for me.” —David Roper

Father, we don’t see the end of the road, but You do. We trust You for what we can’t see. We know that You are bringing us through it.

Our path may have obstacles, but God will lead us.

INSIGHT: In verse 8 of today’s reading, David describes the Lord as good and upright. What God’s character causes Him to do, however, is quite surprising. Rather than His holiness leading Him away from us—who are sinful and far from holy—His mercy leads Him to instruct us in His ways. Because we know God is good, we can trust Him. J.R. Hudberg

Read: Matthew 6:19-24

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 47-49; 1 Thessalonians 4

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. —Matthew 6:20

Poorly installed electric wiring caused a fire that burned down our newly built home. The flames leveled our house within an hour, leaving nothing but rubble. Another time, we returned home from church one Sunday to find our house had been broken into and some of our possessions stolen.

In our imperfect world, loss of material wealth is all too common—vehicles are stolen or crashed, ships sink, buildings crumble, homes are flooded, and personal belongings are stolen. This makes Jesus’ admonition not to put our trust in earthly wealth very meaningful (Matt. 6:19).

Jesus told a story of a man who accumulated abundant treasures and decided to store up everything for himself (Luke 12:16-21). “Take life easy,” the man told himself; “eat, drink and be merry” (v. 19). But that night he lost everything, including his life. In conclusion, Jesus said, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God” (v. 21).

Material wealth is temporary. Nothing lasts forever—except what our God enables us to do for others. Giving of our time and resources to spread the good news, visiting those who are lonely, and helping those in need are just some of the many ways to store up treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:20). —Lawrence Darmani

In what ways are you storing up treasures in heaven? How might you change and grow in this area of your life?

Our real wealth is what we invest for eternity.

INSIGHT: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is His well-known teaching on kingdom living. Because of the importance of the ideas conveyed, it is likely that He revisited these themes multiple times during His earthly ministry. The Scriptures describe two of those presentations, which are similar yet distinct. Matthew 5-7 tells us that Jesus taught His message on a mountain (5:1), while Luke’s account takes place on a level area (6:17-49). Matthew’s account includes eight blessings known as the Beatitudes (5:3-12), while Luke’s rendering includes only four blessings and a series of four woes (6:20-26). Bill Crowder

Read: Colossians 3:1-14

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 37-38; Colossians 3

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. —Mark 12:30

To detect health problems before they become serious, doctors recommend a routine physical exam. We can do the same for our spiritual health by asking a few questions rooted in the great commandment (Mark 12:30) Jesus referred to.

Do I love God with all my heart because He first loved me? Which is stronger, my desire for earthly gain or the treasures that are mine in Christ? (Col. 3:1). He desires that His peace rule our hearts.

Do I love God with all my soul? Do I listen to God telling me who I am? Am I moving away from self-centered desires? (v. 5). Am I becoming more compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient? (v. 12).

Do I love God with all my mind? Do I focus on my relationship with His Son or do I let my mind wander wherever it wants to go? (v. 2). Do my thoughts lead to problems or solutions? To unity or division? Forgiveness or revenge? (v. 13).

Do I love God with all my strength? Am I willing to be seen as weak so that God can show His strength on my behalf? (v. 17). Am I relying on His grace to be strong in His Spirit?

As we let “the message of Christ dwell among [us] richly . . . with all wisdom” (v. 16), He will equip us to build each other up as we become spiritually fit and useful to Him. —Julie Ackerman Link

Heavenly Father, when I rely on anything other than love in my efforts to initiate change in people, I am neglecting to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I choose today to exchange my strength for Yours.

To be spiritually fit, feed on God’s Word and exercise your faith.

INSIGHT: We may find it difficult at times to motivate ourselves in Christian living and service to God and others. However, Paul reminds the church in Colossae that the reason we are to focus on God and serve Him well is that we have been “raised with Christ” (3:1). Because of what Jesus accomplished for us, we are to serve Him faithfully. J.R. Hudberg

Read: 1 John 4:7-19

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 34-36; Colossians 2

We love [God] because he first loved us. —1 John 4:19

One evening my friend showed me one of the three decorative plaques that would be part of a wall arrangement in her living room. “See, I’ve already got Love,” she said, holding up the plaque with the word written on it. “Faith and Hope are on order.”

So Love comes first, I thought. Faith and Hope soon follow!

Love did come first. In fact, it originated with God. First John 4:19 reminds us that “We love [God] because he first loved us.” God’s love, described in 1 Corinthians 13 (known as the “love chapter”), explains a characteristic of real love when it says, “Love never fails” (v. 8).

Faith and hope are essential to the believer. It is only because we are justified by faith that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). And hope is described in Hebrews 6 as “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (v. 19).

One day we will have no need of faith and hope. Faith will become sight and our hope will be realized when we see our Savior face to face. But love is eternal, for love is of God and God is love (1 John 4:7-8). “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”—it’s first and last (1 Cor. 13:13). —Cindy Hess Kasper

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithful love and for the love of family and friends. Please help me find ways to show Your love to others today.

We love because God first loved us.

INSIGHT: John’s gospel carries the themes of light (1:5; 8:12) and truth (1:14; 18:38) throughout his record of Christ’s earthly ministry. In 1 John, he revisits both of those themes (1:5-6). Today’s reading focuses primarily on the character of God’s great love. Bill Crowder

Read: John 15:10-20

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 26-27; Philippians 2

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. . . . And I too will love them and show myself to them. —John 14:21

When I was a young boy, my mom warned me that I should never play with fire. Yet one day I decided to see what would happen if I did. Taking a book of matches and some paper, I went out into the backyard to experiment. With heart beating fast, I knelt on the ground, struck the match, and set the paper aflame.

Suddenly I saw my mother approaching. Not wanting to get caught, I put my legs over the flames to hide what I was doing. But Mom shouted, “Denny, move your legs! There’s a fire underneath them!” Fortunately, I moved my legs quickly enough and was not burned. I realized then that my mother’s rule about not playing with fire was not to spoil my fun but because of her concern to keep me safe.

Sometimes we don’t understand the reasons behind God’s commands. We may even think He is a cosmic killjoy, setting up rules and regulations to keep us from enjoying ourselves. But God asks us to obey Him because He has our best interests at heart. As we obey, we “remain in his love” and are filled with joy (John 15:10-11).

So when God warns us not to sin, He does it for our own good. He really wants to protect us from “playing with fire” and getting burned. —Dennis Fisher

Dear heavenly Father, may Your Holy Spirit empower us to obey Your Word. We thank You for the protection Your precepts provide and the love and joy we find in obeying You.

God gives us loving warnings in His Word to protect us.

INSIGHT: Jesus used the words servants and friends to show the level of intimacy and the great privileges and responsibilities believers have with Him (v. 15). A true friend is “one in spirit” with you (see 1 Sam. 18:1) and would sacrifice his life for you (John 15:13). A friend of Jesus does whatever He commands (v. 14), but “a friend of the world” is an enemy of God (James 4:4). Sim Kay Tee

Read: Psalm 39:4-13

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 23-25; Philippians 1

Show me, Lord, my life’s end. —Psalm 39:4

At the age of 59 my friend Bob Boardman wrote, “If the 70 years of a normal life span were squeezed into a single 24-hour day, it would now be 8:30 in the evening in my life. . . . Time is slipping by so rapidly.”

The difficulty in admitting that our time on earth is limited inspired the creation of “Tikker”—a wristwatch that tells you what time it is, calculates your estimated normal life span, and displays a running countdown of your remaining time. It is advertised as the watch “that counts down your life, just so you can make every second count.”

In Psalm 39, David grappled with the brevity of his life, saying, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (v. 4). He described his life span as no longer than the width of his hand, as only a moment to God, and merely a breath (v. 5). David concluded, “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you” (v. 7).

The clock is ticking. Now is the time to seek God’s power to help us become the people He wants us to be. Finding hope in our eternal God gives meaning for our lives today. —David McCasland

In what ways am I wasting time? In what ways am I making my days count? In what areas do I need to make changes?

The time to live for Jesus is now.

INSIGHT: One reason the Psalms are loved by so many is that they often capture the real emotion of people facing real situations. It gives many of us comfort to know that we are not alone in our struggles and reactions to life. In today’s psalm, David comments on the brevity of life and has an understandable reaction. When we look back on our lives, many of us lament our mistakes and wasted efforts. But David reminds us that in the face of all our sins, it is God who remains our hope. No matter how much of a mess we have made of our lives, it is never too much of a mess for God to redeem. J.R. Hudberg

Read: Luke 23:33-43

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 17-19; Ephesians 5:17-33

Today you will be with me in paradise. —Luke 23:43

Have you ever felt that your life was ruined as a result of having done something embarrassing, shameful, or even criminal—only to wake up and realize it was just a dream? But what if it wasn’t just a nightmare? What if the situation was all too real—either for yourself or someone you love?

This is the situation confronted in George MacDonald’s 19th-century novel The Curate’s Awakening. It’s the story of a parish minister who discovers that he’s been speaking for a God he’s not even sure he believes in. Later, he is called to the bedside of a young man who is losing his mind and dying, haunted by a murder he has committed.

In the heart-rending struggle that follows, the minister discovers what we all need to see. The relief of waking up from a bad dream is nothing compared to waking to the reality of God’s forgiveness, which we once thought was too good to be true.

Where will we find the mercy we need? It is found in Jesus, who, from His own cross said to a dying criminal who turned to Him for help, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). —Mart DeHaan

Father in heaven, please help us to believe that our forgiveness is as real as the price You paid for our rescue.For further study, read The Forgiveness of God at discoveryseries.org/q0602

We are saved by God’s mercy, not by our merit.

INSIGHT: According to Mark 15:25, Jesus was crucified at 9:00 in the morning. While on the cross, Jesus spoke three times before noon: He prayed for forgiveness for His enemies (Luke 23:34), He entrusted His mother into the care of John (John 19:26-27), and He granted salvation to the believing criminal (Luke 23:43). Beginning at noon, and for the next three hours, darkness engulfed the whole land, “for the sun stopped shining” (vv. 44-45). This period was largely marked by silence. Then just before He died at 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus spoke four more times, revealing the anguish of His soul as He bore our sins and proclaiming the completion of the work of salvation (Matt. 27:46; Luke 23:46; John 19:28,30). Sim Kay Tee

Read: Joshua 24:2,8-14

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 14-16; Ephesians 5:1-16

I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build. —Joshua 24:13

The young mother sighed as she scraped together lunch for her 3-year-old daughter. Spying the empty fruit basket on the table in their tiny kitchen, she sighed and said aloud, “If we just had a basket of fruit, I would feel rich!” Her little girl overheard her.

Weeks passed. God sustained the small family. Still, the struggling mom worried. Then one day her little girl bounded into the kitchen. “Look, Mommy, we’re rich!” she exclaimed, pointing at the full fruit basket on the table. Nothing had changed except that the family had purchased a bag of apples.

When Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, was about to die, he shared a message from the Lord that recounted all God had done for them. And he noted, “You lived in the wilderness for a long time” (Josh. 24:7). Then he said, “[God] gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant” (v. 13). Joshua set up a large stone to remind Israel of God’s provision (v. 26).

Like the Israelites, after a time of challenge and scarcity, that family now lives in a different place and enjoys fruit trees in a spacious yard, planted years earlier by a previous owner. If you visit them, you’ll find a bowl of fruit in their kitchen. It reminds them of God’s goodness and how a 3-year-old infused her family with faith, joy, and perspective. —Tim Gustafson

Thank God for how He has provided in the past. Thank Him for what He will do. Ask Him what He wants you to do. Then trust Him.

Remembering God’s provision for yesterday gives hope and strength for today.

INSIGHT: In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that He would give his descendants possession of a great stretch of land that was occupied by other people. Several hundred years later, under the leadership of Joshua, God fulfilled His promise, and the people of Israel took possession of the Promised Land. In today’s passage, Joshua reminds the Israelites that it was not by their own military might that they did this, but it was God who gave them the land. As a result of God’s provision (defeating the armies of the other people), Joshua reminded them to fear and serve the Lord. J.R. Hudberg

Read: 1 John 5:10-15

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 11-13; Ephesians 4

I write these things to you . . . that you may know that you have eternal life. —1 John 5:13

As I sat on a train headed for an important appointment, I began to wonder if I was on the right train. I had never traveled that route before and had failed to ask for help. Finally, overcome by uncertainty and doubt, I exited at the next station—only to be told I had indeed been on the right train!

That incident reminded me how doubt can rob us of peace and confidence. At one time I had struggled with the assurance of my salvation, but God helped me deal with my doubt. Later, after sharing the story of my conversion and my assurance that I was going to heaven, someone asked, “How can you be sure you are saved and going to heaven?” I confidently but humbly pointed to the verse that God had used to help me: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

God promises that through faith in His Son, Jesus, we already have eternal life: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (v. 11). This assurance sharpens our faith, lifts us up when we are downhearted, and gives us courage in times of doubt. —Lawrence Darmani

Dear Lord, during my times of doubt help me remember the promise of Your Word. Since I have invited Jesus into my life and placed my faith in His payment for my sins, You have promised me eternal life with You.

Recalling God’s promises destroys doubt.

INSIGHT: The Bible Knowledge Commentary says of John’s first epistle: “The letter contains no hint about the identity or location of the readers [to whom the letter was sent] beyond the fact that they are Christians. Since early church tradition associates John with the Roman province of Asia (in western Turkey), it has often been thought that the readers lived there. . . . [They] had been confronted with false teachers, whom John called antichrists (1 John 2:18-26). The exact character of these false teachers has been much discussed. Many have thought they were Gnostics who held to a strict dualism in which spiritual and material things were sharply distinguished.” Bill Crowder