Welcome to the “But first, Bible” daily devotional podcast.
Have you seen the internet meme “But first, coffee”?
Coffee is powerful. And there are many people who don’t function too well until after they’ve had their morning coffee. “But first, coffee” is a statement of a daily priority.
I’ve recently been thinking about the power of God’s word and, therefore, the priority of God’s word.
God’s word really is powerful. Did you know that?
In Isaiah 55 God describes the power of his word sent from heaven to “not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (verse 11)
In Jeremiah 23 the LORD declares, “Is not my word like fire… and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (verse 29)
Hebrews 4:12 says this,
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
In Romans 1 Paul says he isn’t ashamed of the gospel word because “it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (verse 16)
Finally, Psalm 19 teaches us that the word of God, “revives the soul… makes wise the simple” (verse 7), “rejoices the heart… enlightens the eyes” (verse 8)
Therefore, God’s powerful word ought to have priority in the life of a believer.
Psalm 19 then shows the type of priority that the word should have, “More to be desired are they [the word of God] than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (verse 11).
Deuteronomy 6 gives God’s people the biggest priority,
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (verses 4-5)
And then look at the call to keep this word central:
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (verses 6-9)
My name is Dave Miers, I’m the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill: Brisbane an Acts 29 church in Australia. And it is my conviction that before we drink our coffee, before we scroll our Facebook
“But first, Bible.” is a new daily devotional podcast.
Go to butfirstbible.com to download the reading notes for each day. Across the year we will read through the whole of the bible. Beginning on January 1 with Genesis 1-2 and Matthew 1.
The priority of this podcast is to encourage you to read the Bible each day. It will take less than 10 minutes per day to stay on top of this plan. Each day I will seek to provide a few thoughts on one of the readings from that day.
I love this quote from church history,
“Scripture is like a river again, broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.”
I trust this podcast will be useful for anyone, whether you have been a follower of Jesus and known his word for as long as you can remember, or whether you are new to Christianity and just getting started with the Bible.
As a new podcast, I would love you to share this podcast and reading plan with others who might benefit as well.
Until next time, keep trusting Jesus.