This continues a series on the Daily Texts and their use in discipleship….
Here’s another reason – in no particular order – of why I’m recommending that people I work with in personal discipleship sign up for the daily email version of the Daily Texts or get the printed version (I hope it will be an iPhone app soon!).
In addition to the simple Bible Readings that come as part of the Daily Texts that let people progress through the Word together with other Christians, there are, of course, the two “Daily Texts”.
I won’t bother you with the grand history of these texts except to say that they are perhaps the most widely used devotional in the world and were used daily by Bonhoeffer till the day of his death.
Suffice it to say, each day offers an Old Testament key verse and a related New Testament verse.
At first I found these virtually “random” and distracting. Today I find them important for a variety of reasons:
1. I’m amazed how “on target” they are for my life in the providence of God. You likely will too.
2. If nothing else goes right during the day, I can at least focus on, meditate about and pray about those two verses and their application to my life.
3. It forces me daily to ask what each verse meant in its original setting, how they relate to one another in light of the change of Testaments, and, finally, how they relate – today – to me. It’s a simple exegetical, theological, and “experiential” exercise to appreciate the Word of God as it was given and as it speaks yet today.
4. If I were really brilliant, I could even take the references to these texts and read them in the original languages. What a great way keep your language skills usable if not “sharp”! Unlike seminary days, one just has to translate one short verse. I already feel guilty for not doing it. I’ll have to find my Greek New Testament at least! 🙂
5. When you’re in a discipleship setting it’s not unusual to ask people to write prayers of some sort. If you’re asking people to write out a prayer a day or a prayer a week, writing a prayer (e.g. a “collect” for example) from a single verse or theme suggested by two verses is simpler than saying “here’s a chapter… decide what to write a prayer about”. It allows for easier focus in such a setting. And when you’re discipling people… you want easy.
6. And like I said last time, the Daily Texts are done for me. No “reinventing the wheel”… just get going.
And as if that weren’t enough, I find the discipline of identifying a particularly memorable verse or phrase from the Psalm, Old Testament, and New Testament reading that comes with the Daily Texts helpful each day too.
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