Thanks for joining us on this journey of building a consistent habit of reading our Bibles every day. The Bible reading plan we are using this year can be found here: One Year Bible or here on the Bible app. As always, if you miss a day, don’t feel compelled to go back and catch up. Just skip it and start back on today’s date. I am reading the NLT this year, but feel free to use whatever version you prefer. Now here are some thoughts from today’s readings:
If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.
– Luke 6:29
Many will read these verses in Luke 6 and take them farther then Jesus did. For instance, they will take “turn the other cheek” to mean you shouldn’t ever defend yourself. They may take “give him your shirt also” to mean that you give away everything you have away to everyone you see. This in not the case at all, and this kind of thinking is actually counterproductive to what Jesus is going after.
Most people who think that way end up getting overwhelmed by the impossible task at hand and just do nothing. But Jesus’s task here is quite simple. IF someone slaps you on your cheek, turn the other. If they punch you in your nose or try to kill you, that’s something different. IF they take your coat, let them have your shirt, too. But you don’t have to give your shirt to every person in the street you think needs it. Start simple. Don’t set yourself up for failure with lofty, unrealistic goals. Jesus doesn’t need you to do everything, He just wants you to do something. That’s what Jesus is really looking for!
Are you trying to serve God in ways He hasn’t asked from you? What do you need to stop doing so you can invest more time and energy into what should be doing?