When you plan to read through the entire Bible, there will be plenty of opportunities to read things that seem boring, make no sense, or seem to have no meaning.

Genealogies are pretty boring at face value. But there must be a reason God wanted them included. One of the reasons may be to show his faithfulness throughout the generations.

The Christian life can easily become a list of tasks to accomplish, boxes to check, and making sure we’re living up to a certain standard that may or may not be a true requirement of the Christian life. It doesn’t help that we live in a society and culture where performance and being driven are valued so highly. That type of thinking is so prevalent and pervasive that it can find its way into Christianity as well. It’s easy for us to complicate the message and meaning of Christianity if we’re not careful to remember what defines Christianity at its core. Christianity can quickly become about what you do for God rather than what God has done for you.

If you’re not too familiar with the Old Testament, reading Zephaniah this week was probably quite intense. I’ve read it before and it was still intense. Some of the words that stuck out to me were:

• destruction
• distress
• anguish
• trouble
• darkness
• wrath
• gloom