Day 136 Bible Reading - John 9: 1-3 (ESV)

Ruth 1 & 2, John 9: 1-34, Psalm 76

John 9: 1-3 (ESV)

” As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Verses 1 through 3 from John 9 shows us how Jesus views bad events that happen in our lives. Christ says God uses these events to do his work and further his plan on earth. We must always view what can seem like bad events to have a purpose in God’s plan. We might not know what the plan is right away, and it could take years for us to even glean what the purpose was for the event. But we need to have faith in God that this bad event will be used in some way to further this plan. I think if we can hold a positive or perhaps a neutral view of the event, then we will be able to see how God uses the event.

I know for myself that if I look back at how I got to a particularly good place in my life, I can sometimes trace it back to an event that seemed at first to be not very good in my life. If I look at the events that happened after that particular not so great event, I can see in retrospect that it did lead on a certain trajectory and that path turned out to be a fulfilling path for my life. Did I have this thought at the time? No way! But I remember trying to keep at least a neutral attitude towards the event and saying to myself, “this might be the best thing that ever happened to me.” I didn’t say it was going to be the best thing, but I said “it might be the best thing”. And I was right although it took many years to see it that way. What I try to say now whenever a perceived “bad event” happens to me is, “this event may be something that God will use to further his plan for my life.”

Day 135 Bible Reading - John 8: 31-32 (ESV)

Judges 20 & 21, John 8: 31-59, Psalm 75

John 8: 31-32 (ESV)

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Verses 31 through 32 from John 8 are prophetic words from Christ for Christians today. Jesus knew after his death that his words and what he said would be written down, so this was his recommendation for those who believe in him. If we abide, with abide meaning if we know what Jesus said and taught, if we knew it enough to be familiar with it, if we lived as Jesus taught his disciples to live, we will know truth. And in knowing the truth from Christ, we will be set free.

We must know the Bible, become familiar with it, and live our lives from the truth in the Bible. The Bible contains many truths and these truths will show us how to live, tell us about our world, the truth of our world. And this knowledge will set us free from the world, from sin, so we are not bound by the world or by sin, but by the words in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Day 134 Bible Reading - Judges 8: 12 (ESV)

Judges 18 & 19, John 8: 12-30, Psalm 74: 18-23

Judges 8: 12 (ESV)

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I love verse 12 from John 8. Jesus compares himself to light and that if you believe in him, you will never be in darkness. Faith in Christ means you will always have light in your life. One Bible commentary said it made sense that Jesus is the light, because in John 1: 1 John said Jesus is the word. I also like that if you are in darkness, you can call upon the name of Jesus and you will again be in the light.

Day 133 Bible Reading - John 8: 7 (ESV)

Judges 16 & 17, John 7: 45-53, John 8: 1-11, Psalm 74: 10-17

John 8: 7 (ESV)

“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Verse 7 from John 8 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I’ve always liked this verse because for me it means that we shouldn’t look at the sins of other people unless we’ve looked at how we’ve sinned. Many bible commentaries have pointed out Jesus was exposing the common sin of a desire to punish the sins of others while ignoring our own sin. It’s not that we can’t expose people who have sinned, but we must do it only when we recognize that we ourselves are forgiven sinners. If we own our sinful nature, we can point out the sins in other people with a generous and forgiving heart. We only accuse other people of sins because our heart has been broken, so we need to make sure we are doing it for the right motives and not out of anger or a desire to punish.