Today’s Walk in the Word

I have called you friends.              —John 15:15 Lexicographers add new words to the dictionary each year: 370 to Merriam-Webster last year. In 2009, the number one new word was “unfriend.” Thank Mark Zuckerberg for making it possible for you to “friend” someone you’ve never met. If it doesn’t work […]

Rise! Let us go! —Matthew 26:46 In Gethsemane, Jesus’ three closest friends did the unthinkable—they went to sleep. Jesus had told them he was overwhelmed with sorrow and asked them to keep watch while he went private and poured out his heart to the Father in prayer. When he returned to his friends, they were […]

The Lord your God will deliver them over to you. —Deuteronomy 7:23 God promised he would be with the Israelites when they entered Canaan—would give them victory over seven nations that were larger and stronger than they were (Dt 7:1). But they wouldn’t conquer all of them in one fell swoop: “The Lord your God […]

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.                                  —Proverbs 27:1 There is something you ought to do that you’ve been putting off, right? A letter you ought to write. An apology […]

I have loved you with an everlasting love.                         —Jeremiah 31:3 Scottish minister and hymnist Gorge Matheson wrote, “Something happened to me, which caused me the most severe mental suffering.” What was it? His fiancée returned his engagement ring when she was informed that […]

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.                               —Colossians 3:23 On September 7, 1860, the steamboat Lady Elgin, with 398 passengers on board, collided with another vessel in Lake Michigan. Edward Spencer, a university student, swimming relentlessly, brought […]

Reject every kind of evil.  —1 Thessalonians 5:22 The Bible asks questions. And frequently gives answers to those questions. Here’s one for you. In Psalm 34:12, the writer asks, “Do any of you want to live a life that is long and prosperous?” We raise our hand and say, “I do, I do!” Then he […]

Do not be wise in your own eyes.                   —Proverbs 3:7 Opinionated. Dogmatic. Inflexible. Does anyone come to mind? He may be smart as a whip, but as Welsh minister and author Matthew Henry opined, “the only thing such a person’s knowledge does for him is puff […]

I press on toward the goal to win the prize.                            —Philippians 3:14 Peter was slammed with a hurricane of emotions the night he denied Jesus: distress, dejection, disappointment. He was tormented and terrified. Before the night was over, he stumbled out of […]

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.                                     —Hebrews 13:5 My mother was ninety-nine years old when she left Earth. I had been alive almost 30,000 days at the time. It would be a safe […]