Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Zechariah 1–3; Luke 11 Click HERE to give! 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 September 28th, and our readings are Zechariah 1–3 and Luke 11.
Zechariah brings us into a series of strange and beautiful visions given to a people who have returned from exile.
Jerusalem has been devastated. The temple is being rebuilt. God's people are trying to imagine what restoration might look like.
And into that uncertainty comes a word of hope.
God has not abandoned them.
God is returning.
God is restoring.
God is removing shame.
God is bringing his people into something new.
Then in Luke 11, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.
He tells them to ask, seek, and knock.
He confronts religious systems that have become preoccupied with appearances while neglecting justice and the love of God.
And then Jesus says something that deserves our attention:
“Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.”
That's a sobering invitation.
Because not everything we call light is light.
Religion can call something light that produces fear.
Tradition can call something light that keeps people in bondage.
Self-righteousness can feel like light while preventing us from seeing ourselves or our neighbor clearly.
Jesus invites us to turn our eyes toward the true light.
The light of God's love.
And when that light fills us, Jesus says our whole lives can become radiant.
So today, let's step out of the shadows.
Bring on the floodlights.
TODAY’S DEVOTION Bring on the Floodlights If all the world's a stage, then I want better lighting.
I remember hearing an actor say something like that once.
And I understand it.
When you're on a stage, you learn pretty quickly to find your light.
You can have the best lines.
You can give the best performance.
But if you're standing in the shadows, nobody can see what's happening.
So you find the light.
And maybe that's a good image for the spiritual life too.
Find the light.
Or perhaps more importantly, make sure the light you've found is actually light.
Because Jesus says something rather startling in Luke 11:
“Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.”
That's worth sitting with.
Because apparently it's possible to become accustomed to darkness and call it light.
It's possible for religious traditions to become so familiar that we stop asking whether they actually look like Jesus.
It's possible to confuse certainty with light.
It's possible to confuse being right with light.
It's possible to confuse fear with light.
It's possible to imagine that a theology that leaves us frightened of God is somehow illuminating God.
And Jesus says:
Check the light.
Look again.
Because Jesus himself is the light by which everything else is seen.
He is the one who shows us what God is like.
And when we look at Jesus, what do we see?
We see him moving toward people.
We see him touching those others avoid.
We see him eating with those religion has excluded.
We see him forgiving.
Healing.
Restoring.
Setting people free.
We see him telling us to love our enemies.
We see him laying down his life rather than taking the lives of his enemies.
We see self-giving love.
This is the light.
And Jesus is confronting religious leaders in Luke 11 who have become very good at managing appearances.
Everything looks clean on the outside.
But Jesus says the inside tells another story.
They carefully tithe even the herbs from their gardens, but they ignore justice and the love of God.
That's darkness masquerading as light.
And I don't think Jesus confronts them because he hates them.
I think he confronts them because he loves them.
He wants them to see.
He wants them to wake up.
He wants the light to break through.
Zechariah gives us another beautiful picture today.
Joshua the high priest stands before God in filthy clothes.
And the Accuser is there.
Ready to accuse.
Ready to condemn.
Ready to define Joshua by what he is wearing.
But God rebukes the Accuser.
And then God says:
“Take off his filthy clothes.”
And Joshua is given new clothes.
A new identity.
A new beginning.
That's light.
The Accuser says, “Look at him.”
God says, “I have taken away your sins.”
The Accuser points toward shame.
God moves toward...
