April 24

Judges 2:10-3:31, Luke 22:14-34, Psalm 92:1-93:5, Proverbs 14:1-2

Pray: Lord, as we read about the judges and how you raised up men and women in whom the Spirit of Lord was strong, we pray that we would not so quickly forget You and seek after false gods. The judges of Israel were an example of Your mercy and steadfast love despite the disobedience of the Israelites. I pray we seek You today for Your unfailing love and mercy towards us in Christ.

Read: In our New Testament reading we see the institution of the Lord’s Supper and the dispute that followed by the disciples. In a beautiful and yet common way, Jesus showed His disciples how He would suffer and die for their sins. He used simple bread and wine to point them to His body and blood that would forever be an atoning sacrifice. Yet, we see the disciples arguing over which of them would be considered greatest in His kingdom. Jesus reminds them that in His kingdom the greatest is the one who serves.

Edify: Psalm 92 reminds us that it is good to give thanks to God. It tells us that we should declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness by night. Many times in scripture it reminds us to rise early or to wake up giving praise to God. Then we are called to seek Him throughout our day and at last when we lay our heads down at night to sleep yet again praise God.

Practice: There is much in these verses to put into practice today. We see Jesus reminding His disciples that to be great we must serve and not seek titles and rank. In Psalms we are reminded to give thanks to God throughout our day and Judges reminds us not to forget the faithfulness of God towards His people.