MONDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 22:31-38
Hebrews 6:1-12
Proverbs 22:17-29
Isaiah 24–26

Luke 22:31-38
Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. He knew Peter would soon deny him, so he prayed Peter would not allow his mistake to hijack his faith. From Scripture, we know God granted Jesus’ request. Peter’s faith faltered, yes, but it did not fail. The reason it didn’t fail was because Peter got back up again. Unfailing faith doesn’t mean you never make a mistake. It means you never stop. It means you realize that just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re a failure. The key to unfailing faith is not the absence of error but the presence of perseverance.

TUESDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 22:39-46
Hebrews 6:13-20
Proverbs 23:1-18
Isaiah 27–28

Proverbs 23:1-18
Money feels like security, doesn’t it? When we have a growing retirement fund, a hefty savings account, and money in the bank, we feel more relaxed. We don’t worry because we trust our money to take care of our needs. As long as we have money, we’ll be okay, our money tells us. But the truth is, money lies. Money isn’t security. Proverbs 23:4, 5 reminds us that money can be lost in an instant. Money might make us feel secure, but it’s a false sense of security. In reality, money can’t give us security; only God can do that.

WEDNESDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 22:47-53
Hebrews 7:1-10
Proverbs 23:19-35
Isaiah 29–30

Proverbs 20:16-30
The Lord said about the Israelites, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). I wonder if God would say the same thing about any of us. How many of us sing praises to God on Sunday morning but then don’t act any differently than the rest of the world Monday through Saturday? The words we say matter, but they don’t matter nearly as much as the conditions of our hearts. What we say we believe matters little if our hearts aren’t telling the same story.

THURSDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 22:54-62
Hebrews 7:11-28
Proverbs 24:1-22
Isaiah 31–33

Luke 22:54-62
Peter’s biggest mistake, his repeated denial of the Lord Jesus, is recorded in this text. What we sometimes forget when we read this story is that his biggest mistake was also a turning point in his life. His denial of Jesus was the springboard that led him to become the cornerstone of the church. Too often, when we make a big mistake or commit a sin that we feel terribly guilty about, we worry God will no longer use us. Peter’s story reminds us that sometimes it’s our biggest failures that God uses to make the biggest difference.

FRIDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 22:63-71
Hebrews 8:1-6
Proverbs 24:23-34
Isaiah 34–36

Hebrews 8:1-6
Hebrews 8:1 tells us that Jesus “sat down at the right hand of the throne” of God. Is there any significance to the fact that Jesus sat down? It might be that Jesus sat down because his job was done. We don’t have to keep working for our salvation, because Jesus did the job completely. We don’t have to keep striving for perfection (a perfection we will never reach, by the way), because Jesus has already been perfect in our place. Why do so many of us strive day after day to complete a job that Jesus has already completed? 

SATURDAY

Reading for Today:
Luke 23:1-12
Hebrews 8:7-13
Proverbs 25:1-14
Isaiah 37–39

Isaiah 37–39
Why do you pray? Many of us pray because we know we should or because we want to check it off our spiritual to-do list. The best reason to pray, though, is because prayer changes things. In Isaiah 37, Hezekiah prayed and the Assyrian army fell. In Isaiah 38, Hezekiah prayed and God healed him of an illness. Prayer changes things. Granted, God isn’t a genie in a bottle who gives us everything we want. He doesn’t always give us what we ask. But often he does. How many of us have missed an answered prayer because we failed to pray?