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The Bible Book(s)/Chapter(s) to read each day this week: Sunday, January 12 to Saturday, January 18, 2025.
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January 10, 2025
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Here are the Bible Book(s)/Chapter(s) to read each day this week. Note that the readings are based on the New American Bible.
Jeremiah Chapters 22-24
Read Jeremiah 23:16 again.
The verses in Jeremiah 23:9-40 warn us to beware of false prophets.
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22. What do these verses suggest to us about prophets and about whether to accept everything that someone tells us at face value?
Ask God to protect all people from incorrect spiritual teaching.
Is there anyone in your life in danger of following a false prophet?
Jeremiah Chapters 25-27
In Jeremiah Chapter 26 the priests and prophets told the princes, and the people, that Jeremiah deserved to die. Jeremiah then appealed to the princes and the people. He told them that God gave him a prophecy but that the priests and prophets didn’t like it. The princes and the people then came to Jeremiah’s aid and declared that he did not deserve to die.
Jeremiah would have been put to death unless the community had come to his defense.
Ask God to help us to make our voices heard in the communities to which we belong.
Is your voice heard in your community? Do you realize that your voice can help save a life and bring justice and peace to others?
Jeremiah Chapters 28-30
Read Jeremiah 29:4-7 and 29:11-14 again.
In Jeremiah 29:4-7,the Lord told the Jews, living in exile, to make the best of their situation.
The verses in Jeremiah 29:11-15 give us one of the most important promises in the Bible. If we look for God, we will find God, even in the ugliest, loneliest places in the world.
Ask God to help us to bloom wherever we are currently planted.
Are you away from home right now — in prison, at school or traveling? How do you deal with the pain of loneliness? Are you ever tempted to use some harmful drug, relationship or behaviour to fill the “hole in your soul”?
Jeremiah Chapters 31-33
Read Jeremiah 32:17-19 aloud.
Ask God to help us to develop our prayer life by studying the prayers of our spiritual ancestors.
Does Jeremiah’s prayer resemble your prayers? Is there anything about how Jeremiah prayed that you would like to add to your prayer style?
Jeremiah Chapters 34-36
Read Jeremiah 35:18-19 again.
God saw that the Rechabites had the gift of obedience and then promised to put this gift to use in God’s service in their future generations.
Ask God to give us the ability to recognize gifts in others and to encourage them to use these gifts in doing God’s work.
What gifts have you and your family members inherited from your ancestors? How can you put these gifts to use in serving God?
Jeremiah Chapters 37-39
As we read in Jeremiah 37:15-16 and 38:4-6, Jeremiah was thrown into both a dungeon and cistern.
Jeremiah was treated cruelly because he spoke the truth, and powerful people, who didn’t like his message, used their power to try to keep him quiet.
Ask God to comfort and strengthen all those who, in our day, are persecuted for speaking the truth.
What do you suppose Jeremiah’s thoughts were like while he was in the dungeon and in the cistern? In spite of all his difficulties, did Jeremiah ever stop doing what the Lord told him to do? Does his example encourage you about some difficulty you have in your life?
Jeremiah Chapters 40-42
Read Jeremiah 42:13-16 again.
In today’s reading we see that some of the Jewish people thought that running away to Egypt would put an end to their problems. Instead, the Lord warned them that their problems would get worse if they ran away.
Ask God to give us His wisdom, knowledge and discernment to help us know when to stay in, or when to leave, a difficult situation.
Are you thinking about leaving someone, or some situation, in your life? Do you think that your life would be better if you do? There are times when it is best to leave. Is it possible that your life would get worse if you left?
A version of this story appeared in the January 12, 2025, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "If we seek God, we shall find Him".
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