There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. – John 1:6-8
This is one of my favorite sequences in the whole Bible. It says something about God’s character that He would allow His most holy Word to be revealed with such whimsy, such matter-of-factness. The power of this Word would crush us were we to meet it head-on. “There was a man…” is an on-ramp to this rushing highway that allows us to, at least, merge – though rarely to keep up.
Such has been our goal with the Daily Reader. We have not set out to redefine Bible reading or to write a commentary. Our goals have been twofold: to help people read the entire Bible, and to encourage people to go to church. To accomplish the first, we’ve tried to provide on-ramps. To accomplish the second, we’ve left you wanting. God’s will, and God’s Word, are best discerned in community with other believers.
We believe that the Bible is the record that the Lord has the power, authority, and integrity to accomplish His purposes and His promises. It has a power all its own: to teach, to rebuke, to heal. In our 15 month production of the Daily Reader we’ve stood in awe of the Holy Spirit’s work: all we have to do is open the book, and be ready to listen, and the Spirit takes it from there.
This is not to say that there isn’t much, much more. We’ve only scratched the surface – yes, in 379 days we’ve only knocked the dust off the cover! What we hoped for, more than anything, was to give you context within which to read the Bible, to recognize the threads and narratives that bind it together, and to worship God for His faithfulness from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22. What did you notice? What did you wonder? Revisit scenes that excited you, that troubled you, confident that, “These words are trustworthy and true.”
As we neared the end of this project, many have asked us “What’s next?” If we really believe that the Word is trustworthy and true, and that the Spirit is a faithful witness, then our only righteous response is: “Do it again.”
Now let’s read it!