Today’s Walk in the Word

Stop judging others.    —Matthew 7:1 A new year is a good time for resolutions. Here’s a handful that will help us make a U-turn when we catch ourselves wallowing in judgmental mud. I resolve to remember that I will be weighed on the same scales that I use in weighing others (Mt 7:2). I […]

Do not fear; I will help you. —Isaiah 41:13 You don’t know what you will face in the next twelve months, but whatever it is, you won’t have to face it alone. You can let your weight down on that because of a promise and because of who made it. Who made the promise? God. […]

Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand!     —Psalm 89:13 World War II had been spreading its slaughter for four months when, as 1939 wound down, King George VI reached out to the ears of British citizens in a BBC radio broadcast. He closed his speech with the preamble to Minnie Louise Haskins’ […]

[Forget] the past and [look] forward to what lies ahead.          —Philippians 3:13 The Magic Slate was one of my favorite childhood Christmas gifts. I could write or draw on the Slate’s plastic sheet, then peel the sheet back, and everything on the page would magically disappear. And then I could start […]

Today is the day for you to choose whom you will serve.              —Joshua 24:15 When the angel told the shepherds that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem and that they would find him lying in a manger, the implied message was, “Go see the baby.” Would they go? […]

There were no rooms left in the inn.                              —Luke 2:7 The Bethlehem innkeeper has been the target of many a censorious sermon for his heartless refusal to make room for the Nazareth travelers, compelling Mary to give birth to her baby […]

They will call him Immanuel— which means, “God with us.”            —Matthew 1:23 What a night! It was the night the world had been waiting for since God vowed that the seed of woman would crush Satan (Gn 3:15). And since he promised Abraham that in his lineage would be one […]

You shall name him Jesus.          —Matthew 1:21 Parents-to-be give serious thought to the name of their baby-to-be. The baby’s name isn’t a trivial tag. It establishes an identity that will follow the child from the cradle to the grave—and beyond. Mary and Joseph weren’t asked what their baby’s name would be—they […]

Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.                —Luke 2:15 Christmas season is a reminder of the Bethlehem-happening. I was drawn to a group of caroling children at the mall. Cherubic faces scrubbed, they had come to sing. And did they ever sing! What was […]

I bring you good news of great joy.                          —Luke 2:10 Fifteen-year-old Isaac Watts (1674–1748) constantly complained about the “atrocious music” in British churches. His father, tired of his grumbling, challenged him to write something better. That evening he wrote his first hymn. For […]