SWHW Bible Reading Plan: July 2021Sample

Top Takeaway from Liz Patton:

As a small child, I loved making my Daddy happy.  I loved the look on his face when I did something that pleased him and made him proud. 

Years later, as a grown woman, I found myself transferring that desire to please my earthly father onto my Heavenly Father. I was trying desperately to be good enough to be found righteous in His eyes.  Maybe you, too, have done some of the following in the hopes of trying to make yourself right in His sight:  

• Follow a Bible reading plan perfectly  


• Pray earnestly   


• Memorize scripture  


• Be willing to lead a Bible study  


• Volunteer at church  


• Tithe  


• Honor the Sabbath  


• Prioritize marriage and family  


• Serve where and when needed  


• (Insert your striving of choice here)

In and of themselves, there is nothing wrong with any of the above.  In fact, they are all wonderful and noble endeavors.  Except when we are doing them because we think they will make God love us more or because we think doing them makes us more righteous.

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands.  The law simply shows us how sinful we are”  Romans 3:20.

We are all sinners.  We all fall short of God’s standards of glory.  And here’s the truth of it--if we were actually able to follow the law perfectly and consistently, then Jesus would not have needed to come and die for us to save us.

Jesus came and lived the perfect life we never could live, and He died the death we all deserve to die.  That truth should never get old for us.  It should change the way we live our very lives. 

“People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.  So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law”  Romans 3:25, 28.

Dear God, thank You for sending us Your only Son, Jesus.  Thank You because of His sacrifice on the cross, we are made righteous in Your sight.  Thank You there is nothing we can do that would make You love us any more and nothing we can do that would make You love us any less. Oh, how we love You!  Amen.