Subscribe NOW for Your New 2024 Daily Devotional

This January, I'm launching a daily devotional you can opt into for $9 a month. What separates this one from the hundreds available online? Here are ten significant differentiators.

First, this devotional will give you an extensive overview of the Bible. If you struggle to read through the entire Bible or have had a hard time understanding how it all fits together, I get it. Many people aren't readers. But through this "slow drip," daily, convenient approach, you will receive both a reading plan that will walk you through Scripture and around 1,000 words of daily content that challenges you to apply what you’ve read to your life.

Second, this devotional will cover the Bible at different speeds. On average, if you spend 14 minutes a day reading the Bible, you will finish in a year. While many year-long Bible plans give equal reading time to passages like 1 Chronicles 15 and Matthew 5, I use a different approach. I believe the best way to go through Scripture in a year is to read both fast and slow. This means that some days, there might be five chapters of suggested reading, while on other days, there are only a few verses.

Third, this devotional will help you see how the entire Bible points to Jesus. The goal of the Christian life is to be conformed to the image of Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes, if we’re reading a book of the Bible like Deuteronomy or Judges, it’s easy to lose sight of this reality.

Fourth, this devotional will offer personal interaction that allows you to address some of your most challenging questions. Because this will be an email devotional that links to themondaychristian.com, I will interact with your daily comments and tailor my podcast guests and conversations to cover the content we’re tackling that week. For example, if we’re in Genesis, I’ll bring on an Old Testament scholar and present your questions.

Fifth, this devotional will help transform the way you pray. Scripture is not just meant to be read, but it is to be meditated on and prayed. That is why each day will include a PRAY (praise, release, ask, yield) section that will prompt you to worship from the passage you have read.

Sixth, this devotional strategically combines multiple disciplines. Many devotionals focus on one aspect, such as inspiration, Bible study, prayer, or spiritual formation. But this devotional will incorporate a mixture of thought-provoking commentary, prayer, systematic theology, and personal application.  

Seventh, this devotional will connect you with the most credible voices. All commentaries on Scripture are not created equal, and one of the reasons many devotionals tend to be shallow is because the authors engage with shallow commentators. Over the years, I've invested in a large library of Christian commentaries, and if you visit a site like bestcommentaries.com (the Rotten Tomatoes of commentaries), you'll notice that many of my sources come from the top-ranked Biblical commentators. For Proverbs, I’ll lean on commentators like Bruce Waltke; for Psalms, scholars like Gerald Wilson; and for Isaiah, John Oswalt.

Eighth, this devotional will connect the profound truths of God to the practical realities of life. Let me explain. On one hand, I have a BA in Ministerial education, an MA in Practical Theology, and a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies. I also spent nearly a decade as a pastor. On the other hand, I’ve spent the last four years serving as a freelance editor for Forbes|Books and working with some of the leading voices in academics, manufacturing, medicine, and the trades. Based on these life experiences, I try to develop content that is deep and pastoral while also addressing the real-life questions busy people ask.

Ninth, this devotional will help you break free from distractions. Many of the clients I work with at Forbes are immersed in the world of artificial intelligence, and they’re predicting a shakeup in workplace industries that exceeds social media's impact on society. Bottom line: This next year, getting distracted will only become easier, and the need to remain anchored in God's Word will be ever greater. By receiving this devotional email first thing each morning, you'll have a clear game plan to put God first before you get into the grind of life.

Tenth, this devotional will be a team effort. While I'll be producing the bulk of the content, my wife, Janan, will be adding numerous contributions. Thus, this devotional will hopefully be an excellent resource for singles and couples at various stages of life. Also, my hope is that you will add your voice and unique contributions by leaving daily comments.

Here is a breakdown of what this devotional structure will look like. The first two weeks of January will focus on laying the foundation and addressing questions such as: How do I find joy in reading the Bible? How do the Old and New Testaments fit together? How do I PRAY the Scriptures?

Then, on January 15th, from Monday–Friday we’ll tackle Genesis 1-11 and the Book of Hebrews before spending the next five months walking through the Old Testament. From there, we’ll spend three months looking at the life of Christ and another three months tackling the rest of the New Testament. That's our Monday through Friday schedule. On the weekends, I thought it might be valuable to switch things up. So on Saturdays, we’ll cover Wisdom Literature in the Bible, such as Proverbs, and on Sundays, we’ll look at the book of Psalms.

My prayer is that after one year on this journey together, you'll think more like Jesus, behave more like Jesus, and be motivated to share Jesus with others.

The goal is not to create more content for you to consume but to give you a roadmap and coaching assistance to apply the rich truths of God's Word to your everyday life.