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About Bible Readings
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About What Stood Out in Today's Bible Reading Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Ps. 119:18). Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Matt. 13:51-52). The Bible is truly a treasure. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. … More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold (Ps. 19:7-10). The more one reads the Bible, the more one sees of its inexhaustible worth. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge (Ps. 19:2). Each day as one reads the Bible, he or she can find something fresh. Even someone who has read through it many times can find something each day that he or she has either not noticed before or has forgotten from a previous reading. Some may not understand how they can find something new each time they read through a given passage of Scripture. I used to wonder about that. The path to finding out depends on how firmly one believes the Bible is essential to life – indispensable to our survival – and how committed one is to selling all he or she has to buy that hidden treasure (Matt. 13:44-46). In other words, it depends on how committed one is to making it his or her first priority to hear from God through His Word. When I first started reading through the Bible, most of the things I noticed were factual – events, people, geographic locations, etc. But the more times I read through, the easier it is to find spiritual insight. And even so, there are still factual points I notice afresh each time. The section may give some ideas – not just of specific points that might stand out in a given reading, but also of various types of points that might be interesting – for example, spiritual insight, geographical, historical, scientific, etc. For each day's reading, one or more points will be listed that stood out to the author. Initially, the points that stood out in the author's most recent pass through each reading will be listed. It is the author's desire, as the Lord enables, to include points from prior passes through each reading. As well as providing more examples from which to draw, this will hopefully give the reader some encouragement that one's experience in Bible reading grows richer as one remains faithful in doing it. Each year, the points that stand out are found fresh (i.e., without referring to those of prior years). The fact that some points stand out in more than one year reveals the value of reading the Bible over and over again – we need to be reminded of things we have forgotten, and some things need to be brought to our attention more than once. The basic format of the points listed is to present the pertinent Scripture reference and some or all of the text of that Scripture. Words, phrases, or parts of words (e.g., s, sometimes, indicating more than one) are underlined to show the point that stood out. If nothing is underlined, then the entire text shown stood out. Sometimes cross references and/or notes were added as the author found time and received insight. Sometimes words will appear in quotes (sometimes multiple words separated by ellipses (…)) followed by a verse count in parentheses (for example, "mark* … forehead*" (4 verses)). This means that a search for the words in the King James Version of the Bible will yield the number of verses shown. The ellipses mean that the words do not have to appear adjacent to one another. The asterisks (*) are wildcards, meaning that the search will find words having no or any letters substituted for the asterisks. Multi-word concordance searches can be performed via PureBibleSearch (either online or downloadable for free from PureBibleSearch.com) or via SwordSearcher (available from SwordSearcher.com). As time becomes available, hopefully these verse counts (at least the smaller counts) will be replaced by actual references to the verses. It is the prayer of the author that the reader will find encouragement to say, along with the psalmist, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Ps. 119:18), and also to be able to say along with him, more and more, O how love I thy law! (Ps. 119:97). What
Stood Out in Today's Bible Reading
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