This past weekend I started reading ‘What Is the Mission of the Church‘ by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert and while it’s too early in the book for me to give many thoughts on it, I came across something that really stuck out to me. So often, books in the Bible state explicitly why they were written. For example, in the very first chapter of Mark, in verse 38, Jesus explicitly states the purpose of his ministry. “And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” Jesus didn’t come to heal the lame and sick (although that was a byproduct of his preaching) but to preach! We can’t preach the Gospel unless we use words, for then we are no different then the world who is here just to help those who are less fortunate than they.

Another example of this is in John 20:31 which says, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The whole point and purpose of the Gospel of John is to lead people into repentance. It’s so easy to get caught up in reading through the text of the book and pass over some of these very key passages that give us a framework to understand the whole book. As you continue in your Bible reading this week, I encourage you to slow down and take in the verse and the contexts. Pray for God to illuminate in light of the context and apply it to your life.