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Ezra 5–6; Psalm 138; Luke 16 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezra%205%E2%80%936%3B%20Psalm%20138%3B%20Luke%2016&version=NLT)
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One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY'S EPISODE
Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible. Today is October 3rd, and our readings are Ezra 5–6, Psalm 138, and Luke 16.
Ezra brings us back to the rebuilding of the temple.
The work that had stalled begins again. Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people, opposition comes, questions are raised, old records are searched, and eventually King Darius confirms the decree of Cyrus.
The temple is completed.
And God's people celebrate.
Psalm 138 gives us David's song of gratitude:
"I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart."
And then we come to Luke 16, where Jesus speaks about money, faithfulness, and the things that can take possession of our hearts.
"You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money."
Then Jesus tells a story about two men.
One is extraordinarily rich.
The other is desperately poor.
But something strange happens in the telling.
The poor man has a name.
Lazarus.
The rich man doesn't.
One has almost nothing the world values, yet he is known.
The other seems to have everything the world values, yet somehow he has lost sight of who he is.
Maybe that's the question before us today.
What tells you who you are?
Your possessions?
Your accomplishments?
Your reputation?
Your failures?
Or the God who knows you and calls you by name?
TODAY'S DEVOTION The Named and the Nameless
He's a rich man with no name.
I've always found that interesting.
Jesus tells us about a man who lives in luxury.
He dresses in expensive purple and fine linen.
Every day is a feast.
He has wealth.
Status.
Comfort.
Influence.
But Jesus never tells us his name.
Then outside his gate lies another man.
Poor.
Hungry.
Covered with sores.
Longing for scraps from the rich man's table.
And Jesus tells us his name.
Lazarus.
The man whom the world hardly notices is named.
The man everyone probably knows is nameless.
I think Jesus wants us to notice that.
Because the rich man has constructed an identity out of all the things the world tells us matter.
Money.
Possessions.
Status.
Comfort.
Maybe reputation.
But somehow all of it has blinded him.
Lazarus has been lying outside his gate.
Close enough to see.
Close enough to help.
But the rich man doesn't really see him.
And perhaps even more tragically, he doesn't see himself.
He doesn't recognize his own poverty.
His own need.
His own dependence upon grace.
That's one of the dangers of wealth, power, success, and even religion.
They can create the illusion that we are self-sufficient.
That we don't need anything.
That we don't need anyone.
That we can build a life substantial enough to give ourselves an identity.
But Jesus says:
Be careful.
You might gain everything and lose sight of who you actually are.
And even after death, the rich man's blindness seems to continue.
He sees Lazarus beside Abraham, and yet he still seems to imagine Lazarus as someone who should serve him.
Send Lazarus to bring me water.
Send Lazarus to warn my brothers.
He sees Lazarus.
But he still doesn't really see him.
That's what blindness does.
It reduces people to their usefulness to us.
But Jesus gives Lazarus a name.
Lazarus.
It means something like, "God has helped."
And that's exactly what happens.
The one who had nothing is gathered into the embrace of Abraham.
The one who was ignored is seen.
The one who was hungry is brought to the table.
The one who appeared forgotten is known by name.
And maybe that's the good news for us.
God knows your name.
Before your accomplishments.
Before your possessions.
Before your reputation.
Before your failures.
Before all the labels other people have placed upon you.
You are known.
And your life doesn't come from what you possess.
Your life comes from God.
Psalm 138 says:
"Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble."
That's Lazarus.
The world may overlook him.
God does not.
And then Jesus says something at the end of this story that points us toward resurrection.
The rich man wants someone to rise from the dead and warn his brothers.
Abraham tells him that if they will not listen to ...
