March 12th, 26: Deuteronomy 19–21, Galatians 3; Daily Bible in a Year

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible with your host and Bible reading coach, Hunter. In today’s episode for March 12th, we continue our journey through the pages of Scripture, exploring Deuteronomy chapters 19–21 and Galatians chapter 3. Together, we’ll unpack powerful and challenging passages—cities of refuge, justice and war in ancient Israel, and the depths of human brokenness seen in Deuteronomy. Hunter helps us look honestly at these texts, reflecting on their darkness and how, through Christ, God brings redemption and new life. As we move into Galatians, we’ll be reminded that faith, not the law, brings us into God’s promise and family. The episode concludes with heartfelt prayers for peace, unity, and love, and a reflection on the podcast’s journey as a daily time of Scripture, prayer, and community. Join Hunter and listeners worldwide as we seek hope and strength in God’s love, together—one step, one day at a time.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Is there anything in all Scripture as disturbing as what we've read today in the book of Deuteronomy? I’m not sure there is. In these passages, we see the curse of sin and the depths of darkness that our world has plunged into by our rebellion against God. Yet in Galatians, we see that in that darkness, God has come to us.

There is a picture, a shadow of the promise, and that shadow is of a tree—a tree of cursing, a tree where the guilty are executed, a tree where Christ hangs vicariously for the whole human race. There he absorbs the sins of the world in order to free us from the dominion of sin. He breaks its power. He sets captives free. The brokenness we see in Deuteronomy—the war, the idolatry, the slaughter, the slavery—this in no way reflects the heart of God. This is a reflection of the heart of man.

God concedes to the reality of the darkness of the human heart. God was in fact conspiring to bring an end to this evil by offering Christ as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, for my sin, for the darkness in my own heart. Christ was hung on Calvary’s tree so that I might never be. And Paul’s admonition to those who trust in Christ is to keep trusting and never foolishly believe that somehow we can justify ourselves by going back to an old system that was only about concession and the hardness of our heart. It was never about making that heart new. It never had the power to make the world new, let alone my own heart.

Paul reminds us that there was never forgiveness in the old path. There was never new life in that old tragic system. There was never the promise of peace on earth. Paul wants us to hold tightly to the cross of the gospel. It is offered to us not on the basis of the law, but on the basis of God’s grace and his love, as seen clearly on the cross and seen clearly in the face of Jesus himself.

In him, friends, we see the heart, the love, the grace, the mercy offered to the whole world and sinners like you and me. In Jesus, we see God reconciling the world to himself so that we might be set free, the whole world to himself. May we never be foolish enough to think that somehow it can be done in any other way, that somehow in our heart there is a way to be made right with God. The way of new life is not found in our heart. It’s found in his, and that is a gift, and it’s given to all.

This is the truth of your being. You have a new heart. Now let us live in the way of our new being, with faith, hope, and love. That is the prayer that I have for my wife, for my daughters and my son. And that is the prayer that I have for you. May it be so.