18 months ago I asked a wise older man for the #1 piece of advice he would give his 30 year old self. He said:
"Read the Bible every day, then journal what you should know, who you should be, and what you should do based on what you read. It will change your life."
I thanked him and then asked him for anything else he might recommend. He said, "Stop. I just told you. Did you not listen? You don't need more advice. If you do what I said, it will change your life."
Humbled, I agreed to start and he graciously shared his daily reflections with me, and has been doing so ever since. 18 months later, I can say he was right.
It has changed my life. I've watched my life gain more peace, and patience, and gentleness. I say that passively because there's a receiving in it. Some days I do it with excitement and other days out of obligation, but regardless I'm always happy I did it. It has reset the trajectory of my days for my good and the good of those around me.
Along the way, I've shared the practice with some close friends and it has changed their lives. And they've shared it with their friends and changed their lives.
So in hopes of helping more, I've decided to start posting my reflections in this thread daily. If you'd like to join me, here's how it works:
1) Get a Bible. I like a physical copy, but use whatever works for you. I prefer ESV, but NIV is also a good choice. There are tons of great apps, or Bible Hub is a good resource (biblehub.com).
2) Choose a reading plan. I find it easier to be told what to read than to make the choice daily. My favorite is a daily reading plan by Oswald Chambers (utmost.org). It serves up a reflection, followed by recommended reading at the bottom. Tip -- sign up for it to be sent to your email every day and choose the modern language version.
3) Read, reflect, and pray. Then journal what you should know, who you should be, and what you should do based on what you read.
4) If you're so inclined, share your reflection as a reply to my daily reflection. I'll try to be vulnerable and would encourage you to do the same, but understandably some are going to be too raw to feel comfortable sharing, and that's ok.
5) If you find it valuable, invite your friends and as Hebrews 10:24 says, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."
And if you have any questions, my DMs are open.

Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50 – Know: Wisdom is justified by all her children. The story of the sinful woman shows the two responses to Jesus that I can have. The Pharisees were considered the wisest and focused on right behavior, and yet their hearts were far from God. They could give right answers, but showed little compassion, love, mercy, and grace. They saw no need for grace, because they had nothing to be forgiven of. The woman’s sins were obvious and she needed help, throwing herself at the mercy of Jesus and looking to him for her rescue. The person who has been forgiven much, forgives much. When my heart holds onto resentments and grudges, I have to ask myself, “How much have I been forgiven?” Do I more identify with the Pharisees or those who know who they really are and have been joyously forgiven? Be: constantly humbled by the grace and mercy that has been shown to me. Do: With a tender heart, be quick to forgive.

Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25 – Know: To be free is to be fully known and fully loved, with nothing to fear and nothing to hide. That is life and life abundant! We are looking for an unfailing love that is independent of utility and accepting of our faults. It is a love that is steadfast and patient, kind and gentle. It is a love of passion without a hint of consumption. It is a love that is ultimately found in Jesus and imaged in the story of Ruth. Am I that love for others? God’s grace and mercy won’t override his gift of free will. He will beckon, but we must surrender, seeing our need and his vast love. That is the rest that I sought and that I have thankfully found. We are adopted sons and daughters of the most high king. And yet, I often forget, losing the plot and living as an orphan, living as Ruth asking to be called Mara, assuming that we are being dealt with bitterly. But God is as close as I desire. God doesn’t change, I do. Distance is all mine. And it is only the love that I receive that I can show to others. Be: good soil, like in the parable of the sower. Do: Let the Good News, the best news, root deeply into my soul.

1 Samuel 1-3; Luke 8:26-56 – Know: Jesus didn’t come for the cleaned up, well put together, successful, and healthy. Jesus came for those who see their own faults and failures and want to be healed. Jesus is willing and able. Am I? Do I see myself as the mask I too often wear – desperately trying to present an image of having it all together, while knowing how far I have yet to go? Or, can I be vulnerable and truthful with others about my weaknesses? Can I be honest before God, knowing that my weakness presents an opportunity for God’s strength, loving care, and healing? God loves me in my brokenness. That love comes first, before any change. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints, and thankfully the Bible is full of those desperately in need of help. It’s almost like God only works through the broken. That is us all, whether we realize it or not, especially me. I change out of his love and acceptance, and not in order to be loved and accepted. Never forget the sequence. Be: acknowledge the unhealed areas of my life. Do: Pray for healing and an ever-greater awareness of where I am blind to my sin.

1 Samuel 4-6; Luke 9:1-17 – Know: God’s sovereignty extends far beyond human capacity to understand. An infinite creator who stands outside of time couldn’t be known fully by the creation. Like the disciples, we are stewards on behalf of God, reliant on him for provision and care and power. Too often I forget that all I have and all I am is a gift to be received and stewarded on God’s behalf, and not gain to be spent on my satisfaction. Like the Israelites, I often turn to God and don’t wait for direction, choosing my ways, charging ahead, and suffering the consequences. And thankfully, God rescues and his provision is lavish. I have seen examples of the feeding of the five thousand in my own life – impossible circumstances that make no sense be turned into an abundance that is hard to imagine. I am called to “fear not” about the rival gods of the day and instead focus on what I know is true and right. Like with Dagon, the world’s idols of worship can’t stand against Yahweh. Be: trustful of God’s provision and care, especially when it looks like hope is lost. Do: Live free from worry, praying for God’s provision and knowing that he doesn’t give me what I ask for, but what I would have asked for had I known what he knows.

1 Samuel 7-9; Luke 9:18-36 — Know: Every day there is a choice to be made with the free will I have been given. Do I surrender to God’s will and God’s way, and take up my cross? Or, do I work to build my small kingdom? This has always been the choice. Stay in the garden, or try to be like God. I have to choose which tree I eat from — life, or the knowledge of good and evil. Do I choose Eden or Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. One could give me the whole world, at the cost of my soul. The other requires me to lay down my life. Which will I choose today? Be: gentle and lowly. Do: Gladly serve trusting God’s love and power.

1 Samuel 10-12; Luke 9:37-62 – Know: Today is a day of darkness and lament, in-between the tragedy of the Cross and the joy of resurrection. It is a day of longing for what was and of mourning for what had been. Hope has been lost. It is a day to reflect on brokenness. This world isn’t how it should be, and we all know it. When the disciples were told about the Cross, their response was to squabble over who was greater. When Saul was anointed king of Israel, he still did not trust. We are tempted by fruit from the wrong tree and too easily indulge our own will, our own ways, and to our own selfish ends. Sons of God quickly become orphans and turn to self protection and self promotion out of fear that we’re not enough. Jesus, come quickly. Let the dawn of your new creation drive out the darkness, starting with my heart. Let me be made new in you. I believe your promises and choose to follow you at a cost. Be: expectant of joy in despair. Do: Lay down my burdens on the only shoulders who can bear them.

1 Samuel 13-14; Luke 10:1-24 – Know: Circumstances always present opportunity. In tough times, am I willing to wait on the Lord, rely upon his provision, and trust in his care, or do I take matters into my own hands, relying on my strength and judgment? In good times, do I fall into temptation, ease, and self-congratulations, or remember that all I have and all I am is a gift from God? When I accomplish, do I bask in glory, or point to the lord of the outcomes? Do I recognize that my feelings of anger and fear are signposts that I’ve lost the plot of the true story of reality? Father, like Jonathan, I want to obey despite bleak circumstances. Like the seventy-two sent out to the towns, when empowered, I want to boast in Jesus and not in my own authority. Be: mindful of where I place my trust, how I attribute victory, and the way I handle difficulty. Do: Wait and obey, trusting Jesus for his way and his timing.

1 Samuel 15-16; Luke 10:25-42 – Know: “Go and do likewise” is the basis of following Jesus. Like Martha, I’m tempted by religion – to earn my relationship with God, to prove myself and do good works out of a desire to gain favor and acceptance. Religion says, “Do this list of things and you’ll earn favor in this life and the next.” Jesus says, “Follow me, sit in my presence, and then go and do likewise.” Religion says do and you’ll be loved and accepted. Jesus says you’re loved and accepted, so go and do. My heart struggles both with obedience and with a desire to demonstrate obedient actions out of pride. Like the lawyer in the story of the Good Samaritan, I try desperately to justify myself. Jesus, I want to be with you, to sit quietly in your presence and experience you in relationship. Help me see all the things stopping me, especially the “good things” that I do. Let me remember that David was selected, not his brothers. He was the smallest and the youngest, unprepared but reliant upon the Lord. Be: like Mary, content to let some practical things slide in order to be with Jesus. Do: the only things I’m able – to surrender my free will and focus on Jesus.

1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 11:1-28 – Know: God is my heavenly father, with abounding and perfect love for me. He loves me now, as I am in all of my faults and failures. I can come to Him in simplicity because I’m not earning, but receiving. What I ask for isn’t out of getting what I’m due, but instead is a gift. I’m a beggar, not a laborer. To properly receive, I need to remember true reality – to remember who God is and who I am, to praise him for his unchanging nature and glory, to ask him for provision in all things, to forgive me for my transgressions, to forgive those who I hold anger, resentment, and judgment against, and to ask for freedom from temptation. Then, my heart is ready to present requests to God in faith and with expectation, and to receive them with gratitude, trusting Him as David trusted. Father, help me to rely on you more-and-more and on myself less-and-less. Let me look at battles I fight, even those within, as victory assured, knowing your timing and provision is perfect. Be: dependent on God in all things, big and small. Do: Get quiet and alone, prioritizing silence and solitude as the gift it truly is.

1 Samuel 19-21; Luke 11:29-54 – Know: I can operate with God or without. I can surrender and let the Lord fill me with His Spirit of patience, gentleness, wisdom, and self-control, or I can operate under my own strength. Without God, I am finite and fearful, self-concerned and desperate to self-protect and self-promote. I can relate to Saul, fearful of losing what he has and descending into paranoia and actions that would have been inconceivable on a short time ago. Life is messy and I am messy, and without God’s loving authority and rule in my life, that messiness compounds. Father, I want my heart tuned to yours. I don’t want to be the Pharisee that I know I can easily devolve into – focused on following rules with a distant heart, doing good for my honor and not your glory, and sacrificing while neglecting to engage in true justice. I want to be bigger on the inside than the outside. The only way is through you and by you and for you. Help me. Be: aware of what drives my behavior. Is it to honor God or honor me? Do: Let anger and fear be flags of my pride, leading to repentance.

1 Samuel 22-24; Luke 12:1-31 – Know: I have a choice to fear God, or to fear everything else. Fearing and reverence go hand-in-hand. If I fear someone, they have power over my life. There’s some authority they can assert that I worry will be used against my desires. God’s authority in my life is all-encompassing. I’m called to surrender, but Jesus’s promise is that his “yoke is easy and his burden is light.” When I fear God’s loving and patient authority through surrender and faith, the fear of everything else fades. I can rest into God’s perfect provision and perfect timing, knowing that God cares about his people, including me. When fear strikes and anxiety builds, I have to ask myself which story of reality I’m living into. Am I the son of the Most High King? Or, am I an orphan destined for the dustbin of history? If anxiety is what I think I need that I don’t actually need, then anxiety becomes a gift, a prompt for self-reflection and self-examination. Be: in reverent awe of God, letting the cares of this world fade. Do: Place my burdens on Jesus, for he loves me and will shoulder them.

1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12:32-59 – Know: I am a steward, not an owner. God provides me time, talents, and resources to grow the garden, to build the kingdom. Even my body is not mine, knitted together in my mother’s womb and was bought for a price. I am called to steward the resources well and, like any steward, subject myself to an accounting of my work. Was I faithful, or like the manager of the servants, did I abuse my position? Jesus is full of both grace and truth, and that truth isn’t watered down. Truth creates division and hard truth can easily create explosive conflict. Jesus didn’t die because he preached a message of love and peace, which he did, but because he declared himself God and King, making Caesar not. David knows he is also a steward, trying to discern God’s will and be faithful to God’s plans. And yet, like David, we all suffer emotional temptation. Anger easily leads to distorted justice. Loneliness is a quick path to lust and adultery. God, thank you for your patience when I often forget my role as a steward, and not an owner. Like David, please send me messengers to soften my heart and keep me from sin. Be: grateful that ownership is not a burden I have to bear, for the one I work for can shoulder all the burdens. Do: Watch for emotional temptation in my life and fight against it, like David, with prayer and thanksgiving.

1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22 – Know: Along with surrender, repentance is a fundamental and daily act for a believer. It is a turning away from sin and back towards God, agreeing with God and disagreeing with the disobedience in which I have been living. It is a realization, a realigning of proper love, and recommitment to follow Jesus. Repentance is about dragging dark things into the light and asking God to heal and relieve the burden. And, the very act of seeing sin and being able to repent is ultimately a gift from God. All sin is a function of disordered loves leading to disordered desire, which becomes disordered action. This is why Jesus connects lust and adultery, anger and murder in the Sermon on the Mount. Sinful action follows a sinful inner-life. Repentance follows from an inventory of not only action, but heart posture towards God and others. A big turning point in my thought-life was when I stopped trying to hide from God in sin and instead pictured him as the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son. If I view God as a brooding and disappointed cop, I will hide and my sin will grow in the darkness. But as a loving father, God becomes a source of care and patient love. Be: quick to repent of sin, letting my waywardness drive me closer to Jesus. Do: Repent at least daily, if not more often.

1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35 — Know: There will be times in life that appear to be and feel like complete loss. Tears flow until numbness overtakes. All hope is gone and there is nothing but ashes. How could God allow this? How could good ever come from this, and how can I ever sense goodness again? It is the cry on the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David’s life points to the answer when it says, “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” LORD isn’t the Hebrew word for a god or higher power, but instead Yahweh. It’s through a deep, abiding, trusting, and reliant relationship that David is strengthened. He never waivers on God’s love or sovereignty, asking for guidance. Is that how I battle fear and loss? Or, do I try to rely on my worldly wisdom, exerting control by force? Jesus is our protector and advocate, but we must be willing to take on his yoke. Be: surrendered to the LORD in the best and worst of times, knowing God’s unchanging nature and care for me. Do: Praise and seek Him above all, especially in seasons of adversity, trial, and bitter loss.

2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24 – Know: The Kingdom of God is upside down from the world’s ways. The world says to prove yourself, get noticed, fake-it-till-you-make-it, and proudly display your knowledge, wealth, and status, or perhaps your more refined and balanced life, your perfect family, or your interesting hobby. Always be angling for the things you want. God tells us the opposite. Philippians 2:3: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves." Matthew 23:12: "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." And in Luke, Jesus tells us to take the lowest place, so God can lift us in due time and in his ways. David waited on the Lord and trusted that he would provide. He had opportunities to kill Saul and take the crown. But he put his faith in God and not in his own selfish ambition. God made David king in due time. This all hits home for me. I feel a great battle in my soul between a desire for honor and a trust that I am honored by God. Am I a lonely orphan desperately seeking to prove myself, build myself, and serve myself, or am I a humble, faithful, trustful son of the Most High King waiting patiently to be used how God sees fit? The war rages every waking hour. Jesus, help me. Be: expectant of God’s love and provision, and expectant of the world’s confusion, derision, and misunderstanding. Do: Live with masks off trusting God, free to be generous without expectations for reciprocity and accomplished without honor.

2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35 – Know: David was a flawed man of deep faith, a man after God’s heart. He was a complicated mixture of surrendering to God’s will and taking and using things and people for his selfish ends. This is our story too. I can praise God and be sacrificial one minute, then be offended and defensive the next. Sometimes patience abides, while other times I become incurved, only able to see my needs and desires. Thankfully, God only works through flawed, failed people. Jesus says we’re called to “bear his own cross and come after me.” This focus and devotion is assuredly imperfect, but we can be like the man who approached Jesus and said, “I believe, help my unbelief.” I want absolute surrender – all I am and all I have. Jesus, help my unsurrender. Like you did for David, be with me in my obedience and wayward ways. And because of the Cross, I know you love me now and not some future version of me. It gives me great comfort that there’s nothing I can do to move outside your love, or to earn it. I want to change from that love, and not out of a misplaced and self-aggrandizing desire to earn your love. Be: resting into God’s abounding, gracious, and patient love. Do: Surrender daily, reminding myself of the true story of reality and repenting of where I’ve strayed knowing that God is smiling and ready with open arms.

2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15:1-10 – Know: Of all the parables in the Bible, the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son have been most impactful. God sees me when I stray, searches for me out of love, rescues me, and welcomes me back with open arms. What could be better? I too often lose the plot, viewing God as angry and disappointed towards me. Or, my pride gets too large to leave room for God’s work in my life. Inevitably, like the Prodigal Son, I have to confront the hard reality of consequences and humble myself. What I find is never judgment or anger, but instead peace and joy. The wrath of God was poured out on the Cross. It is finished. The victory is won. While I live in the “already, but not yet,” I know the game’s final score. From that place of assurance, I can take heart when circumstances look impossible and remember that God is as close as I am to Him. God never creates distance. I do. I am always invited and welcome to feast at the High King’s table. He is willing. Am I? Be: joyful that Jesus left the 99 to rescue me. Do: Have an abundance of grace, mercy, and patience for those who remain un-rescued.

2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32 – Know: Parables are word pictures of deeper reality and the Prodigal Son is the Gospel. God not only beckons and welcomes those who have lived wildly, but also those who have relied on themselves for their moral righteousness. We all alternate between being the older and younger brother, between taking things that aren’t ours, consuming them, and using them towards our selfish ends and a smug self righteousness in some vision of morality that places us above others. One lifestyle says “I don’t care about sin.” The other says, “I am sinless.” Both are blind to reality, harmful to the person and those around them, and marginalize God. Jesus welcomes both to repent and feast with the King. The father, even runs towards the sin and the sinner, joyful that he has returned. He is patient and gentle with the older brother in his time of open rebellion. Is that how I picture God when I sin? Our compassion is the indicator of how we see God. To whom who has been forgiven much, forgives much. Our tendency to judge harshly those who sin differently from us should show us our need to turn back to God. We too have strayed from God’s grace and misunderstand our position. Like Henri Nouwen describes in his book, “Return of the Prodigal Son,” what if life is an exploration of losing our younger brother-ness and our older brother-ness, and becoming like the father? What if we could set aside judgment and with an open heart welcome those broken sinners around us, both wayward and self-righteous, with open arms and a kind heart? Jesus, I want that. Help us. Be: repent of my obvious sin, as well as my hidden sins of condemning and condescending self-righteousness. Do: With a tender and patient heart, beckon those who God puts into my life into the deeper reality of God’s love.

2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16 – Know: Sin compounds. Whatever the sin, it creates adjacent blindness, making what was previously inconceivable logical. Sin creates stepping stones to more-and-more grievous sin. Proverbs 14:2 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” David never set out to take a friend’s wife and then send that friend to his death, but he was not where he should have been – with his men in battle. It’s easy to condescendingly judge David, but as a friend of mine once asked a group studying these passages, “David is God’s anointed and God says David is a man after his own heart. Do you think you’re less susceptible to sin than David?” It’s a question that I think about often. Where am I placing myself that could lead me to things that seem right in the moment and lead me to death? Lead a life modeled after Jeremiah 6:16: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” Once I see the path I’m on leads to death, stop and repent. Turn around and agree with God, no matter the consequences. Like the father in the Prodigal Son, Jesus is waiting with open arms. Be: brutally honest with myself about where I shouldn’t be and with what sinful ideas I’m seemingly playing with. Do: Stop. Turn around. Walk the Good Way. And, be patient with those who are blinded by their sin, giving them truth in love, but without even a hint of judgment.

2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19 – Know: Forgiveness is the currency of true faith. Often, our feelings of anger and resentment are immovable boulders standing in the way of health and life and freedom. When I’m triggered, I’m ready to judge and sentence the guilty with no mercy and not a second thought. But, that shows my heart is wayward. There is real evil and harm, and it’s not to make any excuse for it. If anything, it is only by faith in a God of justice that I can even truly look at evil and see it as such. But, I have been forgiven much, and am called by the forgiver of my debts to forgive those around me of infinitely less. I am able to take my hurts to the Cross, knowing that God has perfect justice and perfect mercy. Be: slow to anger and quick to repent of judgment. Do: Pray for those who I struggle to love, or even like. And forgive them of all.

2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17:20-37 – Know: The love of the father for the son is so great, that even when betrayed and an enemy, the father’s love is patient, forgiving, and mournful of harm. David loved his son Absalom and despite Absalom’s coup and attempts to kill him, David remained faithful to the Lord and caring for his son. David mourned his son’s death, while hiding from his son’s wrath. And even when cursed by bystanders, David chose not to engage. What power! This situation is a picture of God’s love for me, despite me being an enemy of God most of my life. My 20s were filled with arrogant boasts about me and against God. I deserved not only nothing, but to be struck down. If I had been the judge, Brent in his 20s would have been stripped of any success and all love and affection, and humbled into the dust. But God is the father who never stops loving. God not only didn’t let me come to harm, but prospered me, showing me that success wasn’t the savior I thought it would be. God never stopped beckoning me into relationship, gently and slowly, looking past my transgressions and loving me despite my rebellion. How vast is the Father’s love! Be: in awe of God’s unending love that pursues me relentlessly. Do: Hold nothing back from God, neither trust nor devotion.

2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23 – Know: Prayer is the bedrock of our walk with Jesus. How exactly does prayer work? We don’t know. We know it changes us and changes reality. Somehow God combines his perfect sovereignty and our free will into something beautiful. Like how light is both a wave and a particle, we can’t understand it, but it is true. We get word pictures and glimpses. Jesus prayed often and considered it necessary, restorative, and personal. He tells us to seek God in all things, to petition him for what whatever has been laid on our hearts. Why does it work? Because God loves us and when Jesus died, the temple curtain tore top to bottom. We now have direct access to our creator. Jesus is our perfect king, and like all kings, represents his people. Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. Through Jesus’s death, we have life. We’re called to come to God as children – with needs and in trust. Only in the last couple years have I been taught to pray by a wise older friend using the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer has 5 parts: 1) Praise God for who he is. 2) Praise God for what he has done for me. 3) Repent of my transgressions and rebellions in humility and an earnest desire to change. 4) Ask for my needs and desires. 5) Be still and listen for God’s voice. Be: surrendered to God in all things. Do: Pray without ceasing, participating with God as my day unfolds.

2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43 – Know: It’s impossible not to worship if you’ve experienced the Lord – his loving kindness, saving grace, and protection. There’s an indescribable sweetness to His ways. He is gentle, generous, and patient, beckoning me into deeper reality and relationship. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. He tells me who I am and whose I am. He keeps his promises and forgives my transgressions. I worship a God of wonder, and beauty, and mercy. He is gentle and lowly, playful and personal. God asks very little and gives an abundance. He is love and wants a relationship of love with his creation. He requires humble surrender of what he has already given and repentance of where I have chosen my self, my will, and my ways, especially those things I hold most dear. I am required to turn towards Him and He will do the rest. Be: in awe of what has done and continues to do in my life. Do: Jealously guard my time with the Lord, so that I may be still and know that he is God.

2 Samuel 23-24; Luke 19:1-27 – Know: Life transformed when I went from being an owner to being a steward. My 20s and early 30s were focused on earning and achieving to save for my security and spend on my desires. That’s the way the world says you win. The more you make, the more you’re safe, secure, honored, and free to engage and indulge. There will be collateral damage, but that’s “just business” right? That’s the life of Zacchaeus and, like him, I too had a radical change of heart when I met Jesus. When I saw who Jesus was, what he had done for me, and who I was in light of him, there was no way to continue down the path I was on. The anxiety I felt dramatically lessened as I realized that everything I have is a gift from God, a tool to be used wisely for justice, mercy, and generosity. My job was to be focused on Jesus, open to where he wanted to lead me, and to work hard and rest hard. People became the ends instead of the means. Like the parable of the ten minas, I was called to take risks, knowing that Jesus is the lord of the outcomes. As I started walking this new path, everything changed. And yet, there have been many times where, like King David, I strayed into my will and my ways. But God has dealt with me patiently and kindly, showing me the power, joy, and shalom of the Good Way. Be: a faithful, risk-taking, and generous steward of the King. Do: Reflect often on Jeremiah 6:16 – “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48 – Know: Jesus wasn’t killed because of his great teachings, or his counter-cultural rebukes. If Jesus is King, Caesar is not. If Jesus is King, the king of kings, he has dominion over all. I am not my own, but was bought for a price. As an atheist, this was offensive. I prized my autonomy and self-determination. I wanted to be king and chose to rule over my work, money, sex, the praise of men, and food. Turns out I make a bad god. The very things I thought I was sovereign over ended up enslaving me. I was lost and broken, and desperately in need of rescue. I was like the people of Israel, who anticipated a rescuer and liberator. They wanted a warrior-king, and upon his triumpal they crowned him with their words shouting “Worship him.” They thought the problem was Rome. But, Jesus isn’t a king that we get to make and the problem wasn’t Rome. That realization made them shout “Crucify him!” Many, including me, tried and failed to make Jesus more in my image, which ends in hollow self-worship. Jesus came to defeat sin and death as both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. He is the opposite of a warrior-king, laying down his life for his people. He is the perfect Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, and the one to which they all point. What I wanted was a savior made in my image and what I got was something far, far better – to be increasingly made in the image of the perfect savior. Be: surrendered to the King of Kings. Do: Lay down my life in service of God’s purposes and in God’s ways, for the good of those around me.

1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26 – Know: Solomon is the physical embodiment of God’s promise. He rose through grace alone by the blessing of the father. He abided in God and lived out Matthew 6:33 – “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern God’s people well. He sought to do God’s work and for the good of others. God blessed him not only with wisdom, but with all worldly prizes too. And for a time, Solomon and all of Israel prospered. God can’t be controlled, but says he flows to the humble and righteous. He sees hearts, not actions. The aim of Christianity isn’t to serve my interests – to make my life better – but to serve God and his people. With that aim, my life becomes transformed into deeper love and peace and joy. But if I aim for those things for selfish ends, I will have lost the plot and lose those very things too. This reversal is the same inversion that lies at the heart of Christ. Unlike every other religion, we don’t obey to earn God’s love and favor, but obey because we were rescued, freely forgiven, and loved. Be: self-forgetful and focused on God’s purposes. Do: Repent when my heart strays towards self-concern and selfish gain.

1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47 – Know: God’s dwelling with his people was contingent on the representative obedience of the King (1 Kings 6:12). And while Solomon was faithful in many ways, he was also disobedient, as we will find out. His father, King David, was also disobedient, and every king after Solomon was disobedient. I too am disobedient. Jesus is called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” He is the king who perfectly obeyed, and who is the presence of God. Through my faith and rest in Jesus, his righteousness covers my iniquity. I imperfectly obey, not to earn God’s presence but out of the love that has been freely given to me. Unlike religion, which requires me to clean myself up and present myself for approval, the Cross allows me to know that I am loved and forgiven. The victory has been won. I don’t need to seek approval by my good works, or from the praise of men, but only look to my heavenly father who justifies, accepts, and loves me. Be: grateful for the Cross of Christ, which enthroned the one true king. Do: Play for an audience of one.

1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21:1-19 – Know: It’s hard not to overspend on what our heart desires, whether it’s clothes and cars, trips and meals, bigger ventures and more employees, or books and education. We put crushing expectations on the things we desire to soothe us, fulfill us, and serve us. And yet, beauty fades, trips end, ventures fail, and all the knowledge in the world can’t provide wisdom. We live in a cycle of ever more extravagant pursuits, hoping that this time will be different, and it never is. The only thing that can bear the weight is Jesus. And when our hearts are tuned to His, we find it hard not to overspend on generosity, but not out of self-justification or self-righteousness. We give because we have been given, loving from a place of having been loved. We see the lostness and brokenness of this world and we know we can step into the gap for the helpless and hopeless. It isn’t the quantity of our service that matters, but the quality. God wants our hearts before our wallets, time, or influence. In God’s economy, two copper coins matter more than all the gold of Rome. Be: mindful of my affections and the expectations they create. Do: generously serve the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.

1 Kings 10-11; Luke 21:20-38 – Know: The repeated pattern of the Bible is that comfort and success, the gifts of God, blind people to the giver. That’s the pattern I see in my life. Comfort breeds complacency and the illusion that life is safe, secure, and manageable. Disobedience starts to look attractive, because my affections are starting to rest in the wrong places. Solomon, despite his God-given wisdom, all the gifts he’s been given, and his direct instructions from God strays to worship the gods of his many wives. Both the worship of other Gods and the way Solomon was using his wisdom were transgressions. In Deuteronomy 17, God established the law of the king, instructing that Israel’s king should not have many horses, more than one wife, or an abundance of gold and silver. This was so that the king’s heart wouldn’t rest in the safety of this world, but only the Lord. The question I must ask myself is, “Do I want the kingdom or the king?” Like Solomon, am I looking to God or the gifts of God for my fulfillment, satisfaction, safety, and comfort? Jesus lived the perfect life without any worldly success. Instead of amassing wealth and power, he poured out his life, even for his enemies. Jesus always did the Father’s will and never strayed in his affections. Am I more focused on being like Solomon or like Jesus? Be: aware of the constant battle in my soul between pursuing the life of Solomon or Jesus. Do: Give, serve, and be hidden as intentional acts of remembrance and obedience.

1 Kings 12-13; Luke 22:1-20 – Know: Our hearts are quick to stray, to see things as we are instead of how they are. We are susceptible to pride, to overconfidence in our abilities and to self-focused shame, neither of which are reality. We over-index to recent events, discount history, and frequently employ wishful thinking. We foresee challenges where none exist and are blind to hardship around the corner. The antidote to our foolishness is prayer and wise counsel. Jesus often went away to pray, seeking the Father’s will and creating distance between himself and the pulls of the world. Discernment requires solitude. Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” And when the noise gets loud and wise counsel is disregarded, folly is the eventual outcome with disastrous results. Be: thoughtful about how I surround myself with wise counsel and how I create space for silence and solitude. Do: Resist the temptation to get self-focused, self-reliant, and isolated in times of stress. Instead, seek God and the counsel of trusted friends.