Week 2 Readings – 90 Day New Testament Challenge (April 15 – 21)
Tomorrow begins Week 2 of our 90-day adventure of reading through the New Testament in chronological order. If you’re new and just joining us, you can go HERE to catch up. The readings for Week 2 are:
Day 8 –John 5
Day 9 –Matthew 12:1-21; Mark 3; Luke 6
Day 10 –Matthew 5-7
Day 11 –Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7
Day 12 –Matthew 11
Day 13 –Matthew 12:22-50; Luke 11
Day 14 –Matthew 13; Luke 8
About last week. . .
How was Week 1 for you? What did you learn?
It was a great week of readings for me. Though I’d read the passages before, I still got something fresh out of them. It struck me again how Jesus and John both perfectly understood their roles and purposes. They didn’t step out of what they were each called to do. That’s a great reminder for me to “stay in my lane.” I don’t have to worry about what others are doing OR what God is doing for others. My focus should remain on following God’s will for my life. John could have really screwed things up if he’d tried to be Jesus or if he had become jealous of the work Jesus was called to do and the recognition that Jesus received. Likewise, Jesus understood the importance of what John was doing and didn’t try to take it over, even when John would have willingly let him.
I also realized Jesus didn’t alter his work when John was imprisoned. He didn’t rush down to the jail and stage a protest to get John out. He didn’t even hold a prayer session for him. Jesus basically kept doing what He was doing and moved forward in His ministry. You really do have to be sure in your calling to make right decisions. Something tells me I would have been out there figuring out how to get John out of jail or complaining about how wrongly he’d been treated.
One last thing. I’m having an issue with using the BibleStudyTools.com website for my readings because I found a discrepancy in one of the verses, John 3:27. I’ve sent them a message about it so we’ll see.
BibleStudyTools,com (New Living Translation):
27 John replied, “God in heaven appoints each person’s work.
BibleGateway.com (New Living Translation) and my print NLT:
27 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.
This might be the only discrepancy but I’ve lost a bit of confidence in the site. I’ll stick with their reading plan schedule but I don’t know if I can stick with reading the passages on their site. I’ll keep you posted on the site’s response to my message.
So what did you learn from the Week 1 readings?