Walking the Way: A daily devotional

  Hosea 3:3 I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. Thought for the day – Waiting Every so often I read a verse, and it just sits with me. I can’t explain it, and today’s verse just sat with me. I know it’s a metaphor for the people of Israel going through a period where they will have no kings. But in my head I have this image of God just sitting and waiting, while we just sit and wait. Or most likely sit and struggle with whatever we’re desperate not to do. And God is there sitting alongside us as we struggle with whatever it is God is called us to do or give up. It’s an image of someone who loves us enough to sit with us. Like the person supporting someone going through withdrawal. Holding their hair while they throw up or wiping their forehead as they sweat out their poison of choice. It’s an image of someone sitting in silence as the person they’re wi...

Hosea 2:17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;     no longer will their names be invoked. Thought for the day – Sanctification Hosea is not an easy read. God uses some very heavy imagery in the book. Hosea is told to marry Gomer, a promiscuous woman. It an image of how unfaithful the Kingdom of Israel was. Their children are called Jezreel, Not Loved, and Not my people. Jezreel because God would soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel. Not Loved and Not my people, I think are self explanatory and describe the punishment God was to bring on the people of Israel.  Lovely. But then in Chapter 2 we see something different. We see God calling the people something else: ‘My people’ and ‘My loved one’. It’s as if God has changed his mind and has wooed the people of Israel back to him. They have been sanctified. They have been redeemed. And for me this is a really hopeful message that no matter how far we have strayed from God we can a...

Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” Thought for the day – Welcome to the Minors Well, yesterday we finished the Major prophets of the Old Testament. Today we start the Minor prophets. Minor prophets (Hosea through Malachi — twelve books) are "minor" purely in terms of length. Obadiah is one chapter. Most run 3–14 chapters. In the Hebrew canon they were traditionally copied onto a single scroll and referred to collectively as "The Twelve," precisely because individually they were short enough that they might otherwise get lost or damaged. It’s also a Christian term. Not something Jewish folk would understand. And "Minor" is a genuinely unfortunate label if it's misheard as "less important." Amos on justice, Hosea on covenant love, Micah's "act justly, love me...

Daniel 12:13 As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance Thought for the day – Coming home If yesterday's verse about wise people suffering for their wisdom was a fun , perky way to start the day, then today's verse is, I think , probably a much nicer way to start our day . Today, we come to the end of the book of Daniel . It is the last of the five major prophets, and I think that, of all of them , it has the best ending — one that brings hope to us , the people of God . The Son of Man says to Daniel at the end of Daniel 12, “ As for you , go your way till the end . You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance .” What a promise ! And I don't think it's just a promise aimed at Daniel ; I think it's a promise aimed at anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus : “ As for you , go your way till the e...

Daniel 11:33 Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. Thought for the day – Whatever the cost That’s a perky little verse to start our day with isn’t it? This verse is part of Daniel is famously dense — kings of the North and South marching back and forth across centuries. But right in the middle of it, something remarkable happens. In the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the temple was desecrated and faithfulness to God became a genuinely dangerous thing to practise, a group of ordinary believers kept teaching anyway. They had an understanding of who God was and what he'd promised and instead of hoarding it for safety, they gave it away. To many. Knowing full well it would cost them. But have you ever noticed how faithfulness and cost tend to travel together? We'd love a version of discipleship where wisdom earns applause instead of some sort of persecution. But Daniel doesn't offer us that...

  Daniel 10:14   But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold,  Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.   Thought for the day – Battle beyond the stars When I was a teenager, I went away on a camp for young leaders. It was run by Scripture Union and we were looking at Nehemiah for leadership skills. Anyway, on the Saturday afternoon I was outside   reading, when I looked up and saw this enormous figure standing next to me. And I mean enormous, he was taller than some of the trees and as I looked around the campsite, I saw every person there had their own. It was of course a big angel and I couldn’t help but be blown away by that brief look into the spiritual realm. Today’s verse from Daniel reminded me of hat day. And as I was researching today I came upon this quote from Biblical Scholar Ronald Wallace: ‘We are indeed given a remarkable revelation...

  Daniel 9:4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments   Thought for the day – Our lament Daniel’s prayer today is a lament. It’s cry of shame for what has gone before and a shout for God to intervene and restore Jerusalem. And it reminds me of a song I love called Lament by a South African group called Friends First, which was written during the apartheid years of South Africa. So rather than wax lyrical, here are the lyrics. Make it your prayer today.   O Lord our God who keeps his covenant of love, we have sinned and done wrong. We have turned away from your righteousness, our ears have been closed to your command. The land is divided and the people are apart,  The nation is covered in shame. We have resisted your power and your grace, We have not acknowledged your name. Our leaders and...

  Daniel 8:14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed. Thought for the day – Time and all that One of the joys of doing Walking the Way is the research I do. I have encountered some truly weird and wonderful stuff in the 9 years WTW has been produced. Today was one of those days. The verse that came to the fore as I was thinking about the chapter was the time that it would take to cleanse the Temple after it’s desecration. The modern Gregorian calendar would put that at just under 6 years, while the Hebrew calendar would make it 8 years 9 months. I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t a more ‘biblical’ number, like 7 or time, times and a half a time. And then I got wondering why we think time is so important in Scripture. So, I went and did some research. Oh my… I found a website called ‘The World Now’ . It basically a website that tracks events in the light of end times prophecy. Okay I can get with that. But some of the ot...

  Daniel 7:9 I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;   Thought for the day – Ancient of days In our chapter today, Daniel has this amazing vision of four beasts, they are the kingdoms of the world that are to follow. It's an image that we see again in the book of Revelation, and a reminder to us that when John wrote the book of Revelation, he was relying on texts from the Old Testament. But our focus today, and the verse that caught my mind, is verse 9. That sense that we are back in the throne room of God, where thrones are set in place, and the Ancient One or the Ancient of Days, as our verse says today, has taken his place and is ready to bring judgment on the world. That description of God is awe-inspiring. His clothing was white as snow. The hair on his head was like pure wool. These are amazing images o...

  Daniel 6:14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.  Thought for the day – Powerless to act Have you ever signed something and immediately regretted it? I have. Last year I sent a letter to someone that landed me in a whole lot of trouble. How about you? Maybe it was a contract, a hasty email, or a promise made in a moment of pride. Darius knew that feeling better than most of us ever will. And it must have been a very strange feeling for him. A trap had been set for Daniel and in verse 13 that trap has snapped shut. Flattered into signing a decree that made him sound divine, Darius now watches his own words close in around the one man in his kingdom he actually trusted. And here's the detail that makes this so challenging: under Persian law, not even the king could reverse his own edict. The "law of the Medes and Persians" w...

  Daniel 5:25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.   Thought for the day – Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin Nebuchadnezzar has died. According to historical records he was replaced by Nabonidus. Nabonidus had possibly married Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter. His eldest son was Belshazzar, the king in our chapter today. Nabonidus went into exile and entrusted Belshazzar with the throne and it was during this time that the Babylonian Empire fell to Media as we read in our chapter today.   Belshazzar's story stands as a striking reminder that God remains sovereign over every nation and every human life. His fall shows us, in vivid terms, what happens when pride sets itself against God: judgment inevitably follows. But there's more here than a warning. The story also testifies to God's faithfulness to His own word; We shouldn’t be surprised that Babylon has fallen. Isaiah and Jeremiah had spoken of it generations ear...