This Week’s Verse

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (NIV)

I have always struggled with living a disciplined life. From eating to exercising to even waking up at the same time every day, my day-ins and day-outs have always hinged upon riding the everchanging wave of my fluctuating schedule and needs for the day. As I’ve transitioned into my mid-twenties, I have slowly learned how to strike a consistent balance of incorporating daily disciplines into seasons of change and required flexibility. It’s by no means perfect, but consistency and discipline have allowed for growth and steadiness. 

The daily discipline of spending time in God’s Word has been a series of ups and downs over the course of my walk with Jesus, but over the past three years, it has become a daily delight and desire. While reading the Bible daily can easily become an item on a checklist, it was never meant to be that way. Scripture allows us to be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Being in the Bible isn’t just about knowing more about God and gathering knowledge (although those things are important!). Reading the Bible allows us to become more and more like Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 

We were made in God’s image! Because of Christ in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed daily to look more and more like Him. As God speaks to us and molds us through Scripture, we are being equipped to look more and more like Jesus - not out of a desire for behavior modification, but out of a desire for our entire lives to be transformed out of obedience and love for our Father.

REFLECTION

Read 2 Corinthians 3 today and ask God to continue to transform you through His Word and the Holy Spirit. If you don’t know Jesus, read through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (Matthew 27:45 through the end of Matthew 28 is a great place to start).