Through The Bible in a Year - January 5, 2026

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." – Genesis 1:1

God didn't just create with His power—He created with precision. The universe operates with such exact coordination that even minor changes would make life impossible. If the Earth were a few miles closer to the sun, we'd burn. A few miles farther, we'd freeze. If your blood were slightly thinner, you'd hemorrhage. Slightly thicker, you'd die of stroke.

From the cosmic level down to the microscopic machines inside your cells, everything is "just right." This isn't random chance—it's the intelligent design of a wise Creator.

The same God who calibrated the perfect distance between Earth and the sun knows exactly what you need today. He coordinates seasons, harvests, and heartbeats. Your life is not left to random chance—you're held by wisdom beyond comprehension.

Respond: Look for three examples today of God's wise design—in nature, in your body, in the way that seemingingly random circumstances have unfolded for good. Thank Him for His attention to detail.

Prayer: Wise Creator, You designed the universe with perfect precision, and You've designed my life with the same care. Help me trust Your wisdom when I don't understand Your timing or Your ways. You see what I cannot. Help me to trust in that. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - January 2, 2026

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." – Genesis 1:1

The Hebrew word for "created" is barah—it doesn't mean assembled or built. It means to originate, to bring something out of nothing. God didn't work with pre-existing materials. He spoke, and galaxies came into being.

Consider the magnitude: scientists tell us the observable universe is 46 billion light-years across, containing more stars than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. Some stars are as large as our entire solar system. And God made it all from nothing.

If God has that kind of power, what kind of problems are you facing that are too big for Him? The God who created billions of galaxies out of nothing can certainly handle your situation and mine. He specializes in making something where there seems to be nothing that could be done.

Respond: Name one "impossible" situation in your life. Now remember, the God who created the universe from nothing is listening to your prayers and He can change everything, taking nothing and making it into something that is blessed.

Prayer: Powerful Creator, I confess that sometimes my problems feel bigger than You. Forgive my small view of Your power. You spoke galaxies into existence—surely You can bring hope into my situation. I bring You my impossibilities today, trusting in Your creative power. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - January 1, 2026

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." – Genesis 1:1

Notice what this verse doesn't say. It doesn't say "In the beginning, God began." When our beginning occurred, God already was. His existence predated even the beginning itself.

Psalm 90:2 puts it beautifully: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." The walls of time are pushed back—both past and future—to reveal a God who has no beginning and no end.

Why does this matter for your life today? Because when God promises, "I so loved the world that I gave my only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life," that promise is reasonable. An eternal God can give eternal life. He's not bound by time, and neither is His love for you.

Respond: What situation in your life feels temporary or hopeless? Remember that the eternal God is not limited by time. He sees the beginning and the end, and He holds your story in His hands.

Prayer: Eternal God, when I'm anxious about tomorrow or burdened by yesterday, remind me that You exist outside of time. You were there before my problems began, and You'll be there long after they end. Help me rest in Your eternity. In Jesus' name, amen.

Daily Devotion - December 31, 2025

I will show my love to the one I called “Not my loved one.” I will say to those called “Not my people,” “You are my people”; and they will say, “You are my God.’ (Hosea 2:23 NIV)

For well-known author Anne Lamott, life was full of sinful pursuits and relational ruins. In so many ways, she was seeking God in all the wrong places. She wrote about her journey toward faith and how she came to understand God’s grace. 

When her despair caused her to ask a pastor what it meant to be “saved,” he gave this answer: “It’s like discovering you’re on the shelf of a pawnshop – dusty and forgotten and not feeling very worthy, when Jesus walks in and says, I’ll take her place on the shelf – let her go out in the sun.”

Ann Lamott is still on a journey of faith. Those who know her life acknowledge it has lots of twists and turns. But through that pastor, she started down a new path toward a new life in the sun.

God used her destitution and despair not only to reveal the futility of past paths, but also that he is willing to take those who think of themselves as “Not God’s people,” and make them his.  

That’s the same message for us. Jesus took our place in the darkness and dirt of the cross and put us on a new path in his light. So, even if we think of ourselves as “Not God’s loved one,” when we say, “You are my God,” he says, “You are mine.” 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for taking me off a dusty shelf and putting me in the sunshine of your grace! I praise you that when I thought I was “Not your loved one,” Jesus took my place so that you now say to me, “You are mine.”

Daily Devotion - December 30, 2025

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:16)

Have you ever faced a trial and thought, “This is because I have not done enough for God.” You’re not alone. My missionary friend, Ricky Grey, confessed to having the same thoughts when his child was born with multiple medical concerns. 

Ricky wrote of how every medical setback led to him and his wife wondering whether their righteousness and repentance were enough. The questioning was leading the parents into a dangerous quandary of wondering whether to blame themselves or God for their child’s struggles. 

Then the Lord turned their hearts back to the truth of the gospel. We will never be right with God by depending on what we do, but by trusting in what Jesus has done for us. When we trust in the sufficiency of his work on our behalf, then we need not doubt him or blame one another for the troubles of a fallen world. 

We trust the Good Shepherd to carry us through dark valleys of this world because he has proven his care, giving us access to it by his cross. Now nothing enters lives hedged about by the grace of Christ except what is eternally best for us and our families. 

We don’t trust our goodness to insulate us against all earthly trials, we trust the goodness of Jesus to take us through them to himself. 

Prayer: Father, I know we live in a fallen world that you will someday make right. Through the grace unquestionably revealed at the cross, teach me to trust your sovereign love through inevitable trials until Jesus comes or takes me home!

Daily Devotion - December 29, 2025

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deut. 31:6)

A generation ago, the captivity of some American hostages in Iran had stretched into the Christmas season. Bowing to political pressures, the terrorists allowed the hostages to celebrate Christmas together with TV cameras rolling. That’s when hostage Kathryn Koob, an American embassy worker, softly sang “Away in a Manger.”  

The last verse, sung in the terrorists’ presence, was the most poignant: “Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray.”

 The words conveyed the hope and courage that is available to Christians in all generations and circumstances. It is the strength that comes from knowing that our God is always with us. 

Jesus came to this earth to be with us despite our sin, and he sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us until he comes again. He will never leave us or forsake us. We can face the greatest of trials or terrors with assurance that nothing separates us from his love. 

Circumstance will change, his love will not. Trials will vary, his presence will not. Problems will pass, his purposes will endure. He is near. So, take courage.

Prayer: Lord, you are with me through hardships. With you I can face anything. You will never leave or forsake me! So, give me strength from trusting your constant presence.

Daily Devotion - December 26, 2025

You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Col. 3:9-10)

What does it mean to be a new creation in Christ? One dimension of this new reality is how the Holy Spirit works inside of us to teach, train, and rewire our minds for growth and maturity. 

The supernatural rewiring of the Holy Spirit reminds me of the electric trains I played with as a child. When I wanted the train to go in reverse, I did not push it with my hands. I used a switch that changed the wiring, so the same train that had rounded its track in one direction would now move in a new direction.

In a similar way, the Holy Spirit changes our thoughts and desires. In one sense, we are still the same person with the same body and appearance. But, in another sense, all of those aspects of our being are now moving in a new direction. 

Once we were moving away from Jesus; now we are moving toward him with thoughts and desires controlled by the knowledge of One who loved us and gave himself for us. Even when we sin, our betrayal of our Savoir convicts our hearts. We long to put off sinful practices, and actually have the power to do so. 

What has happened? God has supernaturally rewired our hearts to love and serve him – something impossible prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Knowing and experiencing his re-wiring gives us confidence to move in the direction he empowers.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the fact that my old life is past, and I have new life in Jesus Christ. May the new life the Holy Spirit is wiring into my thoughts and desires motivate me to love, serve, and obey you more each day.

Daily Devotion - December 25, 2025

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)

God gave his Son many titles: “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” and “Prince of Peace.”  Each reminds us that God provides blessings for us that we cannot provide for ourselves.

He gives counsel beyond our wisdom. He provides might beyond our strength. He offers Fatherly care to orphaned hearts. And, He sends his peace to comfort anxious hearts, relieve burdened souls, and transform troubled lives.

Christ’s titles display the essence of the gospel to reveal the grace of God. His names signal his provision — not for those who think they have their lives all fixed and tidy, but for those who name him as their wisdom, strength, love, and peace. 

When we call him by the names his Word supplies, we are confessing he must provide what we cannot. Professing his titles invites his provision: to our cries will come his counsel; to our weakness will come his might; to all who call him, Father, he says, “My child”; and, to our anxiety will come his peace.

  Hallelujah! What at Savior for a world of sinners like me!

Prayer: Lord, thank you that when I am confused you give me counsel, when I am weak you give me strength, when my childish resolutions do not last you remain my Everlasting Father, and when I am anxious you give me peace in Christ!

Daily Devotion - December 24, 2025

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16)

Many of us grew up singing the Christmas carol “Oh, little town of Bethlehem.” But we may have become so familiar with the lyrics that we’ve neglected to marvel at the message they carry.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem had become a town of little importance – fallen from it’s renown as David’s city. In fact, most people avoided it on their way to Jerusalem. 

Still, God’s graceful design was to use the dingy town to bring his Son into the world. On that day, Bethlehem shone so brightly that we would sing of her: “The hopes and fears of all the years were met in thee tonight.” 

The King of Glory came to a forgotten town, in an oppressed land, to be laid in a cattle trough, by a disgraced mother, of a transient family, and to be announced to the world by lowly shepherds. Where’s the grace in all of that? You know. 

God chose the weak and despised things of this world to display his glory, so that when we are forgotten, weak, disregarded, disgraced, displaced, poor, and lowly, we will remember that God does not despise coming to us. So do not fear to come to him.

Prayer: Father, just as you used the flawed features of the insignificant town of Bethlehem to display the glory of Jesus’ grace to persons like me, so also convince me that you can use me – even me – to bring his good news to others.

Daily Devotion - December 23, 2025

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)

Isaiah writes this passage during a sorrowful and somber time in the Israel’s history. God’s people had turned their backs on him, and the light of hope seemed all but extinguished. 

That would be a sad story for sure — if that were the end. But it’s not! Isaiah prophesied that God had a plan for turning his people back to him! The prophet proclaims, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given.” This prophesied Son would be the Savior of the World, offering God’s counsel, might, love, and peace!  

At times such a Son may seem distant from us, lost in the sentiment of a Christmas song, or banished from our hearts by serious sin. Whatever the cause of his seeming distance, recognize Isaiah wrote to a people whose sentiments were idolatrous and whose sin was great. 

If you think you do not qualify for God’s counsel, might, love, and peace, then think again. If people like these were to receive help from Jesus, then people like you and me can expect it, too. 

If we didn’t need his help, then Jesus would not have come. Sin never needs to be the end of God’s story. Let him write Jesus’ ending for you.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that my sins need not be the end of your story for me. Help me remember that my Savior came because I needed saving, and turn my heart to seek his counsel, might, love, and peace.

Daily Devotion - December 22, 2025

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matt. 1:23)

Jesus could have remained remote in heaven’s realm, but he didn’t. As an infant in a manger, a child in Nazareth, and a Savior on a cross, he knelt down into the dirt of our earth and our shame to demonstrate a near and holy love. Even his name communicates this love: Immanuel, means God with us.

The announcement of our Savior’s name was not the first affirmation of our God’s presence. When God walked with our first parents in the Garden of Eden, sealed Noah’s family in the ark, spared Abraham’s son with a provision of sacrifice, delivered Israel from Pharaoh and through the Red Sea, dwelt among his people in the Wilderness, rescued them from enemies, spoke through prophets and apostles with his Word for us, and put his Spirit in us – in all these, our God was demonstrating the Immanuel principle: He is with us!

Why is the Immanuel principle displayed so often in Scripture? The answer is that we can face any trial, walk any path, deal with all the pains of a fallen world so long as we know God is with us. He is!

If you know that God is with you, then you can face anything. So, by his Word and Spirit, God is with you every moment of every day, so that you can face everything with him. God is with you! 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are with me. May the truths of your Word be the witness of your Spirit in my heart, assuring me that you will walk with me through anything. May I fear nothing because in everything my God is near!

Daily Devotion - December 19, 2025

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Rom. 2:1 NIV)

In the play The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, we get to know the six Herdman kids. They are bonafide delinquents — they lie, smoke, cuss, and bully others at school. They never attend church. And, for all the other kids in town, this is a blessing. Church is the one place they can find some protection and peace – until the day the Herdman kids show up.

Invading a Sunday school class, these inventively awful kids ask the teacher lots of questions like, “Why don’t they call him Bill instead of Jesus?” and “Why don’t they give Christmas a better name, like ‘Revenge at Bethlehem?’”

How do kids like the Herdmans wind up in a Christmas story? The same way that we do. They receive patience and mercy they do not earn or fully understand. 

Wayward children receive grace they do not deserve. That’s the real Christmas story – and what makes it real to us. When we witness the blessing such grace brings to lowly shepherds, or delinquent Herdmans, or our wayward hearts, then the story becomes as meaningful as God intended.

Ultimately the beauty of the Christmas story touches us, when we realize that we are in Christ’s pageant story, too. We who were undeserving of welcoming him were welcomed by him, and can tell others of his love for kids as awful as we. 

Prayer: Father, help me remember the grace that claimed me more that the merits I would claim. Make Jesus beautiful to and through me by the transformation in me that reflects how much I appreciate his patience and mercy toward me.

Daily Devotion - December 18, 2025

The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Tim. 1:14-15)

The Apostle Paul seemed to get the gospel backwards. In one of his earliest letters, he confessed that he was the “least of the apostles.” Later he wrote to others that he was the “least of God’s people.” Finally, toward the end of his life and ministry he wrote that he was the “foremost” of sinners.

The more mature he became, the worse he saw his sin. Isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t he have been getting better and better? Of course, we are right to expect Paul’s behavior to improve as his walk with Christ matured, but that is not his point.

The more Paul understood the sacrifice of his Savior, the more he detested the sin that required it. Paul did not get worse; he simply saw his wrongs more realistically. 

This perspective did not lead Paul to despair – quite the opposite. The more he recognized the magnitude of his sin, the more the cross of Jesus was magnified in his heart. 

Yes, Paul’s sin got worse in his estimation, but consequently the cross of Jesus got larger in his appreciation. So, far from despairing, he wrote, “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me.”

We don’t have to be afraid of confessing the magnitude of our sin to God. He already knows it, and our love and faith will only increase as his overflowing grace overwhelms our guilt and shame. 

Prayer: God, be merciful to me, a great sinner in need of a greater Savior. Let me see the magnitude of my sin so that I am overwhelmed by the magnificence of the cross where grace overflows for me.

Daily Devotion - December 17, 2025

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . . Judah [was] the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, . . . and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. (Matt. 1:1-6)

Jesus’s family line is not what we would expect. There’s Tamar, who was abused and abandoned. There’s Rahab, a prostitute and outcast; and, Ruth, a foreigner. And, let’s not forget about Bathsheba, the adulteress wife of King David, who murdered her husband to have her. Jesus’ family tree is rotten.

Why does God used such an imperfect line for Christ’s lineage? God is making plain that he isn’t surprised by human frailty or put off by it. Imperfect people are the best candidates for receiving and displaying his grace. 

This may not be a message that we desire to hear on the days that we are confident of our goodness, but it is the message that we are desperate to claim on the days that our imperfections – even our rottenness – is plain to us.

God’s light shines brightest in the darkness, and his grace will gleam through the dirt on us. He can work past the sin we thought was greater than he, and he delights to do so. God displays his grace so brilliantly to make his mercy plain and to encourage us to claim it readily – right now!   

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the fact that you pardon and give purpose to messed up people like me. Today, help me so to believe in your grace that I rejoice to receive it and live to reflect it!

Daily Devotion - December 16, 2025

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Heb. 12:1-2)

In every generation, God sustains his people through trials to provide encouragement to surrounding generations. 

When the prophet Daniel was old, he remembered what God had done for his young friends — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When Daniel faced new trials, he remembered how God had helped Jeremiah in a previous generation. When Daniel dreamed of trials yet to come, he also foresaw the Rescuer who would overcome.

Daniel faced hard times surrounded on all sides by a cloud of witnesses to God’s faithfulness. The writer of Hebrews does the same. In a time of persecution, he calls to mind the faithful witnesses of the ages to inspire faithfulness in his age.  

Scripture reminds us of the grace that has come to instill trust in the good yet to come. We trust God to do as he has done. We do not base our trust on words alone, but on generations of God’s care. 

He’s the protector of past, present, and future generations. If that cloud of witnesses seems remote or obscure, then you should remember the greatest witness of God’s goodness is the Holy Spirit bringing you to faith. Even if all is taken from you on earth, you still have Jesus. He is behind and before you, above and below you. You are surrounded by Jesus in the cloud of his ever-present grace! 

Prayer: Father, your Word shows how you always provide what is best your children. When I face trials, surround my heart with this cloud of witnesses so I fulfill your purposes.

Daily Devotion - December 15, 2025

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (1 John 5:1-2)

Motivation is as important as obedience to truly please God. Doing right things for wrong reasons is – wrong! That’s why God sometimes rejected the prayers and worship of his people in Scripture.

Prayer is not wrong, and worship is not wrong, unless we are using them to try to bribe God to do what we selfishly desire. God’s heart cannot be bought by our good deeds. He is never indebted to us or managed by our merits.

God motivates us to do his will out of gratitude for his love and grace. True obedience is always a loving response to God’s grace rather than an attempt to buy him off. That’s why love for God is necessary to obey his commands. 

The heart that truly comprehends the greatness of God’s grace loves him. Such love for God compels us to live for him and walk in his ways. When we love God, we love those he loves and what he loves, making love for God the basis of all true obedience!

Prayer: Father, I’m grateful you enabled me to love you through Jesus’ love. Now help me confirm that love by living in true obedience that comes from making my greatest motivation love for your purposes rather than for mine!

Daily Devotion - December 12, 2025

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Rom. 8:35-37)

Guilt and fear can cause us to question our usefulness to God. But his love for us, and his power to hold us, are the basis for our ultimate confidence that he will not separate us or any that he loves from his care. 

We sometimes hear Christians question whether it is right to bring children into such a troubled world. We need to remember that God’s promises to us are no less powerful for the generations that follow us. 

God created us and our children for the precise moment in time that specific persons and personalities are needed for his witness. Every child of God has been raised up precisely for the moment God knew was best for that one to represent him. 

He raised up David for Goliath. He raised up Daniel for the lions’ den. He raised up Hannah to provide Samuel time to anoint kings in preparation for the Messiah.

Generations later, God raised up Jesus for the cross, then Peter and Paul to build the church that would follow. Each child fulfilled a divine purpose far beyond the difficulties of their time. 

God is not now wondering how he will maintain his purposes until Christ’s return. He is raising up moms and dads and children who are integral to his plan. Raise your children and their children’s children to believe they are in God’s plan for their time.

 Nothing can separate his children from his heart or his plan. All are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us remember the grace that preserves your people and purposes through all generations, so that we raise the next generation of conquerors of hatred, bitterness, and evil.

Daily Devotion - December 11, 2025

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:103-105)

A nature trail that my family enjoys meanders through woods, parallels a stream, and circles a lake as it leads us to trees and rocks identified with placards explaining each landmark’s significance. 

The explanations help us understand and enjoy the features of the forest around us. But as interesting as these descriptions are, no trail sign is more important than the one at the beginning — the one with the arrows and the words that say, Begin Here.

Without a proper beginning we will struggle to find our way, see our path, or reach our destination.  The same is true with God’s Word. We get on the proper path of Scripture when we start reading with the understanding that God will be revealing his heart in all the features of his Word.

His instructions are sweet and he lights the path that is good for us because he intends to share with us the beauty and wonder of his care. Every path that begins with any other understanding is false and we will end up hating it. 

Jesus is at the end of the path designed by God’s Word. Knowing that destination, as we begin, will help us read Scripture’s landmarks as revelations of God’s heart – a heart that reveals our sin only to make us desire a Savior and delight in his path.

Prayer: Lord, may your Word guide my steps today, leading me closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. Help me to delight in the words that reveal your care for me, my need of Jesus, and your path to Him. 

Daily Devotion - December 10, 2025

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)

If God threatened to punish us, then terrorized fear would be an appropriate response. But the Apostle John tells us that perfect love for God casts out fear. How can that be? 

Punishment is the infliction of penalty for a wrong. For the Christian, the fear of such punishment has passed. How can that be?

On the cross Jesus took all the punishment for all our sins past, present, and future. God’s love may still discipline to turn us from sin’s consequences but the penalty for our sin was entirely paid by his Son. That’s why we sing, “Jesus Paid It All.” 

Punishment and discipline are not the same thing. Punishment exacts a price; discipline edifies people. Believers’ punishment is past; believers’ discipline is grace. 

As a result, christian obedience should never be an attempt to placate the “ogre in the sky” who’s just waiting for us to step out of line so he can punish us. The fear of that kind of punishment is gone. We haven’t been “perfected in love,” if such fear rules our hearts in place of gratitude for grace. 

The peace of God rules the hearts of all who delight in the grace of Christ who has cast our fear of punishment far away!

Prayer: Lord God, please help me to respond to you out of a heart trusting that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because he took the fear of punishment away, rule my heart with the peace of knowing your enduring and edifying grace.

Daily Devotion - December 9, 2025

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8)

Several years ago, my wife, Kathy, and a friend gathered up their kids and took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. “Big Cat Country” had just opened, allowing lions and tigers to roam in large enclosures.  

Our two, preschool-aged boys ran ahead of the moms, who got distracted by a crying infant, and innocently squeezed through a child-sized gap in the fence undetected by recent workmen. The boys clamored to a perch above the lion’s den and proudly announced, “Hey, Mom, we can see them.” 

Suddenly Kathy realized where the boys were! The boys had no idea how much danger they were in. But Kathy knew and also knew now was not the time to scold. Instead, she knelt down, spread out her arms, and called to her children, “Come get a hug.” The boys came running to her embrace, saved by love from a danger greater than they could perceive.

In Scripture, God cautions us about our spiritual Adversary not merely to scold, but to warn of danger greater than we can fully understand. At the same time, he draws us to safety by loving arms spread wide on a cross to receive wandering children into his eternal embrace. Come running to his hug!

Prayer: Lord, I know that Satan is like a hungry lion, seeking to devour me. When he threatens my soul, help me run to Jesus’ arms spread wide to receive me.