echoes of redemption

This year I’m going to spend my time in Scripture focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus… and I would love for you to join me!

The year of reading will start January 10 and go through the second week of December. It is composed of seven six week reading and study sessions with a week of rest in between each one. Each week also only has six days of reading, with a day of rest each week.

Here’s the map:

• 6 weeks reading all four gospels
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks studying Matthew
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks studying Mark
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks reading all four gospels
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks studying Luke
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks studying John
• 1 week of rest
• 6 weeks reading all four gospels

The 6 weeks reading all four gospels are broken down so the daily readings are about equal in length. I’ll also probably divide mine so I do half in the morning and half in the evening. (The map for these sections is here as a PDF and iCal download.) These blocks are less about in-depth study and more about gaining an overview of the four primary perspectives on Jesus’ life.

The 6 weeks studying each of the four gospels will give you time to drill down on each book individually. There is no set reading schedule, so you can spend as much time in certain sections as you need to. (You might spend a day on all of Matthew 4, but two or three days on the 10  beatitudes in Matthew 5:2-12.) I’m also going to upload a page to my blog of resources that are free, as well as ones you can purchase.

Also, for additional reading plans, check out the reading plan page at YouVersion.

There is beauty in restoration.

When things that have gone wrong are set right. When things that have fallen apart put back together. When things that are lost are found.

And restoration is the heartbeat of the prayer that closes the book of laments.

It is a passionate cry for God to restore his people. And in step with his character, he will – in deeper ways than they ever knew. Because soon Jesus would come. And Jesus is a man of reconciliation. Restoring God’s people to him. Restoring them to themselves. Restoring them to each other. Bringing restoration to this planet.

He is the reconciliation that brings hope to the hopeless situation the book of Lamentations describes.

And in him we find everything we need.

So it’s okay to lament. It’s healthy to work through the pain. It’s beneficial to present your case to God. And in the end, he is a God of reconciliation. He always hears the cry. And when he answers, he does it in ways beyond which we even know to ask.

David Crowder said it: life is full of light and shadows.

And the fourth chapter of lamentations we watch both the light and shadows of suffering wash over the people of Israel.

How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is despised.

- Lamentations 4:1

It used to shine so bright. But now that it’s in the light, seen for what it really is – and they hate it.

Hate how it drew them away from God. Hate how it used to look more valuable than the passionate Father who called them his. Hate how they lost perspective in the moment of blessing. And they finally get it – everything else is trivial in comparison to the power and majesty of God.

But this is a song not just about light, but about shadow. Because they remember what they used to say,

Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.

- Lamentations 4:20

And they realize that in the shadow of God we find all we need for life and godliness – all we need to live as we were created to live. And in the shadow of God there is a beauty beyond gold. A life beyond possessions. A hope for the future that nothing on earth can provide.

And then it clicks: It is impossible to live in the shadow of God if we find ourselves always clamoring for the spotlight of men. But their life of chasing after the spotlight of men leaves them with nothing else to do than lament. And so the last lament ends.

But the book is not over – because there is still one more prayer. One more passionate cry to God. A final note asking God for restoration.

And God always hears the cry. (more tomorrow)