Bible Reading Plan | Devotion for the week of February 7, 2021

Weekly reading: 2 John – Revelation 2
Passages referenced: Luke 19:10; John 10:10, 18:37-38; 2 John; 3 John

Has a question ever hit you so hard that it’s changed your life? My guess is that 95% of you have asked or been asked one of these life-changing questions: “Should I take the job that’s in front of me?” “Should I marry this person?” “Do I want Jimmy John’s or do I want Subway?” (Jimmy John’s is always the right answer, by the way) “Are we really ready for our family to grow?” This list isn’t exhaustive, but I imagine that, at some point, there has been a question that has changed your life.

Nine years ago, I was serving as a chaplain in the work release chaplaincy program. One night, the head chaplain was teaching on John 18, the story where Jesus was on trial and having a conversation with Pilate. At one point in the discussion, Jesus says to Pilate, “I came into this world to testify to the truth” – to which Pilate simply asked:

“What is truth?”

The answer to Pilate’s question was pretty easy to find. The truth is that Jesus came into the world to seek and save the lost, give people life to the fullest, and testify to the truth. (see Luke 19:10; John 10:10, 18:37-38; 2 John; 3 John for further reading)

The question that changed my life came after I found the truth of who Jesus is and why He came to earth:

“What will I do with the truth?”

In this week’s reading plan, we see the words “the truth” appear 11 times in 2nd and 3rd John. Any time we see repetition like this, it should call our attention to what the author is talking about. As I read through this week’s plan, I keep coming back to the question, “what will I do with the truth?” What is my role in the truth of who Jesus is? And what do I do with this knowledge that I have?

John writes that it gives him joy to see the recipients of his letters “walk in the truth.” John encourages these Christians to “testify to the faithfulness of people who walk in the truth.” He also encourages them to hold tight to the truth when others don’t and to “continue on [in the truth].”

Two thousand years later, the questions we have to ask ourselves remain the same: “what is truth?” and “what will we do with the truth?”

Nine years ago, when the chaplain asked that question of us, he then turned the question into “what will you do with the truth? And who are you going to tell about it?” And it changed my life. – Aaron Christenberry

Questions to consider

• What will I do with the truth?
• Who is one person that I can share Jesus with? 
• What does it look like for me to lead my family/friends in truth?