Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Evening Reading
Occupy till I come.—LUKE 19:13.
The Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.—Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.—Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?—Leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.—Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it.—Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Mark 13:34. -Matt. 25:15.John 9:4. -Luke 2:49. -I Pet. 2:21.II Tim. 4:2. -I Cor. 3:13. -I Cor. 15:58.
Spurgeon's Evening Reading
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light.”
1 John 1:7
As he is in the light! Can we ever attain to this? Shall we ever be able to walk as clearly in the light as he is whom we call “Our Father,” of whom it is written, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all?” Certainly, this is the model which is set before us, for the Saviour himself said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect;” and although we may feel that we can never rival the perfection of God, yet we are to seek after it, and never to be satisfied until we attain to it. The youthful artist, as he grasps his early pencil, can hardly hope to equal Raphael or Michael Angelo, but still, if he did not have a noble beau ideal before his mind, he would only attain to something very mean and ordinary. But what is meant by the expression that the Christian is to walk in light as God is in the light? We conceive it to import likeness, but not degree. We are as truly in the light, we are as heartily in the light, we are as sincerely in the light, as honestly in the light, though we cannot be there in the same measure. I cannot dwell in the sun, it is too bright a place for my residence, but I can walk in the light of the sun; and so, though I cannot attain to that perfection of purity and truth which belongs to the Lord of hosts by nature as the infinitely good, yet I can set the Lord always before me, and strive, by the help of the indwelling Spirit, after conformity to his image. That famous old commentator, John Trapp, says, “We may be in the light as God is in the light for quality, but not for equality.” We are to have the same light, and are as truly to have it and walk in it as God does, though, as for equality with God in his holiness and purity, that must be left until we cross the Jordan and enter into the perfection of the Most High. Mark that the blessings of sacred fellowship and perfect cleansing are bound up with walking in the light.
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Joshua 21
21. Towns for Levites
Cities Allotted to the Levites
21
Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites;2they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, along with their pasture lands for our livestock.”3So by command of the Lord the Israelites gave to the Levites the following towns and pasture lands out of their inheritance.
4 The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
5 The rest of the Kohathites received by lot ten towns from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 The Gershonites received by lot thirteen towns from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The Merarites according to their families received twelve towns from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun.
8 These towns and their pasture lands the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following towns mentioned by name,10which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites who belonged to the Levites, since the lot fell to them first.11They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands around it.12But the fields of the town and its villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his holding.
13 To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands,14Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,15Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,16Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands—nine towns out of these two tribes.17Out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,18Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands—four towns.19The towns of the descendants of Aaron—the priests—were thirteen in all, with their pasture lands.
20 As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite families of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim.21To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands,22Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands—four towns.23Out of the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,24Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands—four towns.25Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands—two towns.26The towns of the families of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all, with their pasture lands.
27 To the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands—two towns.28Out of the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,29Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands—four towns.30Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,31Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands—four towns.32Out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands—three towns.33The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasture lands.
34 To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,35Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands—four towns.36Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands,37Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands—four towns.38Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands,39Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands—four towns in all.40As for the towns of the several Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were twelve in all.
41 The towns of the Levites within the holdings of the Israelites were in all forty-eight towns with their pasture lands.42Each of these towns had its pasture lands around it; so it was with all these towns.
43 Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to their ancestors that he would give them; and having taken possession of it, they settled there.44And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their ancestors; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.45Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
New Testament in Four Years - Galatians 2:17-21
2. Paul Opposes Peter
17But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!18But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.21I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Psalm a Day - Psalm 38
38. Psalm 38
Psalm 38
A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing
A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
1
O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
2
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3
There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5
My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness;
6
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.
7
For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8
I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9
O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10
My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11
My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my neighbors stand far off.
12
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin,
and meditate treachery all day long.
13
But I am like the deaf, I do not hear;
like the mute, who cannot speak.
14
Truly, I am like one who does not hear,
and in whose mouth is no retort.
15
But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16
For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
those who boast against me when my foot slips.”
17
For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19
Those who are my foes without cause are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20
Those who render me evil for good
are my adversaries because I follow after good.
21
Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me;
22
make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.