August 9th, 25: Jeremiah 3–4; John 11 : Daily Bible in a Year

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible for August 9th. It’s Day 222 in our journey through the Scriptures. Today, your Bible reading coach Hunter invites you to join a global community as we read Jeremiah chapters 3 and 4, followed by John chapter 11. Together, we’ll see God’s faithfulness and mercy in the midst of Israel’s unfaithfulness, and witness Jesus’ miraculous power as he raises Lazarus from the dead. Along the way, we’ll reflect on our own brokenness, the hope we have in Christ’s resurrection life, and pray for God’s peace, guidance, and presence to fill our lives anew. So grab your Bible, get outside if you can, and let’s walk through the Word together—one step at a time.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

We need a better twin. Thomas, in those moments near the tomb of Lazarus, was full of good intentions and bold declarations. “Let’s go too and die with Jesus,” he said. But Thomas had to learn, like all of us do, that the best intentions and loudest proclamations do not overcome the reality of our brokenness, our captivity to the flesh, and the certainty of the grave. Our best efforts can’t save us; we need someone who can do for us what we cannot do ourselves.

What we need is a twin superior to Thomas—a brother who will go before us, triumph over death, and reconcile us to God. We need someone who calls us out from the shadows of our old lives and into something altogether new. We need a brother who has emerged from the grave and draws us into his resurrection life. We need Jesus.

And that is precisely who we have. Thomas, uncertain as he was, would eventually come to see that Jesus truly is the friend who sticks closer than a brother, closer even than a twin. Jesus, our brother, is the one who overcomes our brokenness, our slavery, our inevitable end in the grave. He does what we cannot: he calls us by name and invites us out of the tomb, into the light, and into his life.

The prayer of my heart today is that I will truly see, understand, and experience what Christ has done—that I will participate, now and always, in his risen life. To come out from the grave clothes and step freely into the new life Jesus offers. Jesus is our brother. Because of him, the grave is not the end; new life has already begun, and it is ours.

That’s my prayer for my own soul. That’s my prayer for my family—my wife, my daughters, my son. And that is my prayer for you.
May it be so.