God, You, & Luke 2: Day 1

Welcome to my Advent series God, You, & Luke 2!

You are choosing well - not because you are reading my blog, but because you are choosing to spend time every day reading words that are life giving and life changing. God's words.

Every day, for the next 24 days, read Luke 2:1-21. 

And, if you are squeezed for time, remember: Don't read my words. Read God's.

He has the words of life.

My first post has everything to do with this Luke 2 passage without talking about any part of it. I'd like to suggest something that I learned to do whenever I'm about to read the Bible. I'm suggesting a prayer. A prayer I learned to pray the first year I moved to Bolivar, Missouri in 1988. It was then I met Pat Baker, a Godly woman who I attend church with. She wrote the book When a Woman Takes God at His Word.

It is a workbook of sorts, with chapters to read and then questions to answer. And in this book, Pat suggests praying a prayer before you read the Bible.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

        wondrous things out of your law.

(Psalm 119:18 ESV)

When you open the Bible, you aren't just opening any book. It is the inspired word from the creator of the universe who has chosen to reveal Himself to us in its words.

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us: "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

The words you are going to spend time reading in the next 24 days are special words, and we need special help understanding them. As you begin your 24 days in Luke, may I suggest praying this verse every day before you begin to read? We need God, the author of all life and our faith, to open our eyes if we are really going to see and understand the truths embedded in Luke 2. We need Him to reveal Himself to us. 

Yes, Lord. Open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your law.