Focus verse

“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

Read

• 2 Timothy 3:14–17
• Psalm 119:9–16
• Joshua 1:8

Teaching

If God is personal, we would expect Him to speak. He has. He speaks through creation, through His Son Jesus, and through the Scriptures, the Bible.

One book, many books. The Bible is a library of 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. It was written by many human authors over many centuries, in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, yet it tells one story: God creating, people turning away, and God rescuing them through Jesus.

God-breathed. Paul tells Timothy that every Scripture is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). The writers used their own words and styles, but the Holy Spirit guided them so that what they wrote is truly God’s Word. That is why the church treats the Bible as the final authority for what we believe and how we live.

Useful for life. The same verse says Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. It shows us what is true, where we have gone wrong, how to get back on track, and how to keep walking right. Like a lamp on a dark path, it may not show the whole road at once, but it shows the next step.

How to start reading. Do not start at Genesis and try to push through. Begin with the Gospel of Mark, which is short and fast-moving. Read a few verses a day and use three simple steps:

1. Read the passage slowly, twice.
2. Reflect: what does it say about God? About people? Is there a promise, a command or an example?
3. Respond: write one thing to believe or do, and turn it into a short prayer.

Five minutes a day with God’s Word will shape you more than one long session a month.

Reflect

1. What has made the Bible hard for you to read in the past?
2. Joshua 1:8 links meditating on God’s Word with success. What do you think “meditate” means here?
3. Which part of your life most needs a lamp for the next step right now?

Respond

• Start the Gospel of Mark this week: Mark 1:1–20 is a good first reading.
• Choose a fixed time and place for daily reading, for example 6:00 AM before work, and keep it for seven days.

Pray

Lord, thank You for speaking to me through Your Word. Give me hunger for the Scriptures and help me not only to read them but to obey them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.