One fine day a few years ago, Chloe and I were enjoying a perfect summer afternoon, riding our bikes on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay when we happened upon a garage sale. The residence looked appealing so Chloe’s bike veered effortlessly to the right up the driveway and I instinctively followed her. We browsed for awhile enjoying the treasures, when I came upon what would become a very good friend of mine. I am always drawn to old books at sales like these. Rummaging through the piles I came upon “The Way”; a Bible popular in the early 1970s with college students (my generation) published by Youth for Christ. Holding it my hands brought back enjoyable memories of those days. I brought it to “garage sale checkout” and found out it was free so I took it. This free book has become my favorite Bible for my devotions. In the front of the book is a convenient table where I keep track of the chapters I’ve read. I have kept track of my reading progress for a few years now.
Recently, I decided to start my day in the Gospel of Luke. The Introduction to Luke pounded me to alertness. It states, in part, “Victory, defeat, joy, pain, birth, death – life is all of these. Jesus knew joy - and tears. He knew birth and life and – death! But after He was murdered, he rose from the dead! And that was His life was all about. He lived so we could live – really live – and that is why He said we can know joy which runs so deep that no disappointment can fully squelch it. And through Luke’s account of Christ’s life you will see Him “fleshing out” this kind of living – the integrity and depth and power all of us want, so that so that when our successes and accomplishments disappear like smoke and all that we have left is sand in our mouths, we still have what He had. Life.”
With “fleshing out” in mind, I started Chapter 1. These are familiar verses to me about the events leading up to the birth of Christ so I thought I would breeze through them quickly so I could check them off as read. What happened to me was completely something else. Thirteen verses in Chapter 1 spoke to me directly this morning! Amazing! One verse in particular that spoke to me was Luke 1: 37, “For every promise from God shall surely come true”. Another was verse 79, “and heaven’s dawn is about to break on us, to give light to those who sit in darkness, and death’s shadow, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
What happened that morning was so powerful to me that I carefully read only one chapter of Luke a day for the next 24 days. Each day, I underlined verses where God spoke to me; “fleshing out” promises and truths giving me the path to peace and the life He has for me. Jesus lived so we could live – really live! Unconstrained, bottomless study in the book of Luke, one chapter a day, helped me to flesh it out and personalize it to my life! This has become a good discipline for me and each day I look forward to spending time with a very good friend of mine, “The Way”.
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