Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
— 2 John 1:3
My wife and I recently moved house. We’ll probably be here for about four months. We move around a lot, looking after different houses, and sometimes even dogs, and by now we’ve got a pretty good idea of what we need to bring with us every day, and what we can do without. Books are essential, my handy “Instant Pot” pressure cooker never leaves us, and we always bring our own pillows.
John penned these words around two thousand years ago, and he did so with a specific church in mind. We don’t know which church, but what we do know is that whoever they were, they didn’t keep it to themselves. Something in this letter was important enough that it had to be carried around to wherever else Christians found themselves. Today, it sits towards the end of your Bible, and is as essential now as it ever was.
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us.
From God the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son.
In truth.
In love.
How easy it is to forget this as we move from place to place throughout our days. Do we carry peace with us to work? Are we merciful when people do us wrong? When we sin, do we run back to God’s grace immediately, or do we wallow in our sorrows a while?
As we pray through this scripture today, dwell on these things.
The first sun of 2025 is about to rise, how will this year be different?
Praying through the Bible
Lord God,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
Come be with us today.
Thank you for the reminder of your incarnation just last week,
and for the anticipation of your coming that we experienced throughout Advent.
I pray you would continue to bring sweet reminders into my heart and mind.
Show me again how sweet your grace was, that hour that I first believed.
Remind me of my present need, and preserve me in your grace through the year ahead.
Help me to speak and act as one who is to be judged under the law of liberty,
For you have shown me mercy, and your mercy triumphs over judgment.1
This year holds surprises yet unknown to me, but you know them all.
Lord, prepare peaceful paths throughout them all,
Lead me to them, when my feet are tempted to wander.
Fill my mind with truth and my heart with love.
Help me to balance the one with the other, never forsaking either.
Aid me this day, this month, this year.
Amen
Today’s Readings
Whether you’re ready to sit and read these now, or you think later might be a better fit, I recommend looking through your plan for the day now. If you follow this Bible reading plan, you’ll finish the whole Bible by the end of the year. We’re starting this morning with just 26 verses, across four chapters of the Bible. When will you sit down to read or listen to them?
2 John 1:1-3
Psalm 1
Psalm 2
Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
1 Chronicles 1:1–52
Recommended Media to Start Your Day
It is so easy to get dragged into the daily news cycle, or a social media scroll early in the morning. Here’s some fun and edifying media to get you started instead, now you’ve finished your dawn Bible reading.
If you’re looking to really commit to reading your Bible every day this year, take some time to read
’ encouragement not to “ghost God” and to learn to respond in prayer when you read his word:
Bill struggled to fall asleep on November 19th 2025 seriously considering closing his account the next day. Instead, he awoke to calls and hundreds of messages from friends and family members, all telling him to check his subscriber count. Just over a month later and Fishing with “Oh Dad!” now has 1.54 Million subscribers, all of whom found his charisma, and his love of the Lord, inspiring. Check out his reaction the very next day:
If you haven’t already, check out Daily Dose’s collection of the funniest videos of 2024:
1-2 Chronicles are two of the most overlooked books of the Bible, despite covering great swathes of history, and God’s faithfulness throughout. Each day I’ll share a short portion of these books, so by the end of the year, you’ll have read through them in their entirety.
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