For the
love
of God

volume one

——————————

A Daily Companion for Discovering

the Riches of God’s Word

D. A. CARSON

Today’s Reading

CROSSWAY BOOKS • WHEATON, ILLINOIS

A DIVISION OF GOOD NEWS PUBLISHERS

For the Love of God, Volume One

Copyright © 1998 by D. A. Carson

Published by Crossway Books
a division of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple

First printing, 1998

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Carson, D. A.

For the Love of God: a daily companion for discovering the riches of God’s Word / D.A. Carson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1–58134–008–7 (v. 1: hardcover: alk. paper)

ISBN 1–58134–118–0 (v. 2: hardcover: alk. paper)

1.Devotional use. 2.Devotional calendars. 3. Bible—Reading.

I. Title.

BS617.8.C37 1998

220’.071—dc21 98–26484

CIP

This book is gratefully dedicated

to my dear wife

Joy

who is to me as her name.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

M’Cheyne Chart of Daily Bible Readings

Daily Readings

Preface

This book, the first of two volumes, is for Christians who want to read the Bible, who want to read all the Bible.

At their best, Christians have saturated themselves in the Bible. They say with Job, “I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12). That comparison was something the children of Israel were meant to learn in the wilderness. We are told that God led them into hunger and fed them with manna to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3)—words quoted by the Lord Jesus when he himself faced temptation (Matt. 4:4). Not only for the book of Revelation may it properly be said, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it” (Rev. 1:3). On the night he was betrayed, Jesus Christ prayed for his followers in these terms: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). The means by which God sanctifies men and women, setting them apart as his own people, is the Word of truth.

The challenge has become increasingly severe in recent years, owing to several factors. All of us must confront the regular sins of laziness or lack of discipline, sins of the ...