God’s word for the wise

by Julianne Hagan

“The Holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17

As women we thrive on being equipped for the tasks before us – with recipes and utensils for cooking for our families, with ideas for parenting, with cleaning supplies to tackle the messes in our homes. These verses from 2 Timothy tell us that Scripture makes us equipped for every good work that God has planned for us. Knowing there is immense benefit from reading and knowing the Word, why then is it so difficult for us to regularly read and study the Bible?

Sometimes we need a method and a routine. The Bible is long, it isn’t in the order of events, and frankly some passages just seem irrelevant. But we love a good book! And the Bible is a story of God’s rescue plan for mankind. It’s filled with romance, action, poetry, intrigue, and mystery. It’s God’s love story where He shows up on every page if we just take the time to look for Him. Our tendency is to read the Bible to see where we find ourselves in it. The greater pursuit in reading it, however, is to find out about God!

My niece invited me to join her this year in a chronological Bible reading plan that includes a daily podcast called The Bible Recap. Each day we read an average of 3 pages of the Bible and then listen to a 7-minute podcast that “recaps” what we have read. In the reading, the host has us look for our “God shot” – what we have learned about God, including His character, what He loves, what He hates, what motivates Him to act as He does. 

I look forward every morning to the reading (sitting under a nice blanket on the bed in our guest room!) and to what I will learn each day from the podcast (listening as I get ready in the mornings!). It’s a system that works for me and has resulted in anticipation every day of what I will learn about God and the grand story of Scripture. This plan can be started any day of the year, not just January 1^st. (Visit www.thebiblerecap.com and click Start).

On Day 158 in the reading plan, Proverbs 13:15a stood out to me: “He who walks with the wise grows wise.” This was just before meeting Calvary women for the Thursday morning summer walks at Bear Creek Trail. I knew I was going to literally be walking with a wise group of godly women!

Yesterday the podcast host shared this quote from R.C. Sproul: “A disciple does not dabble in learning. He makes the pursuit of an understanding of God’s Word a chief business of his life.” Yes. This. This is what I want to be about. Being equipped through the power of God’s Word in my heart for every good work. Let’s pursue wisdom together through the study of His Word!

Julianne Hagan
Julianne Hagan is wife to John and mom to Bethany, Christina and Mary, who loved growing up at Calvary. Her daughters are each married and live in Texas. Julianne is a CPA and works for RSM during tax season. She sings and plays the piano in our 11 am services at Calvary.