Malachi 3:1-4:6, Revelation 22:1-21, Psalm 150:1-6, Proverbs 31:25-31
Today is the 31st day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a true joy and honor to be here around the Global Campfire with you today, on a day of celebration. This is the 365th day of the year, the final day of the year and we can’t linger here. We can only move forward and so, the hours left in this year are kind of winding down. We made it, almost, I mean we’ve got to do our reading for today, but if we showed up here around the Global Campfire today, then we made it, well done. And we’ll talk about it more at the end but we are at the beginning, and we come here for a very specific purpose and that is to gather together and take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And we need to take that final step and that final step leads us in the Old Testament back into the book of Malachi. And today we will read Malachi chapters 3 and 4.
And this ends the Old Testament.
Revelation 22
And this concludes the New Testament.
Psalm 150
And this concludes the Psalms.
Proverbs 31:25-31
And this concludes the Proverbs. And this concludes the Bible.
Commentary:
Okay friends, well, this year isn’t any different than most years for me. I reach that point, say those words and that concludes the Bible and then I gotta shut things down for a minute. I gotta collect myself. It’s like, I…I know that tomorrow is another day like it’s it never ends. Our relationship with the Bible never ends. We don’t read the Bible go there now, I’m a good spiritual person, I…I read the whole Bible, we realize that in reading the Bible, it’s reading us back and speaking deeply into our lives and to repeat the process over and over is transformational. So, I know tomorrow we get to start a new journey again, but there’s something about finishing, at least for me, like I’ve stood in front of the microphone every single day to get here and then we reach this place and there’s like this overwhelming feeling of melancholy like I don’t want this journey to end, even though it doesn’t, and the year does. And then this concludes seven teen years, seven days a week for 17 years, seven days a week. We’ve been here together taking steps forward; it’s I don’t even know where the time went. I look in the mirror and I can see 17 years but feels like it’s just flown by, and the Bible has become the rhythm, the constant, the thing that my entire family is oriented around and that we are all oriented around, it tells us what God is like, shows us who God is, and then we have to live it. I can’t believe like will start year 18 tomorrow, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I want to stay here and realize we’ve done this, we’ve been doing this a long time, 17 years. And I am so grateful, what floods into my mind and into my heart or just the thousands and thousands of people that we’ve been able to interact with, personally over these years and that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people that have been able to participate. And I’m just deeply grateful to have been one of the people that have been able to be here, feasting upon the Scriptures each and every day together as we gather around the Global Campfire. What a beautiful, beautiful community we are, and I’m lucky, I’m fortunate to be able to be in it and be a part of it with you, thank you for the journey of this year. This would’ve never worked if we weren’t in it together, but being together, it did work and we were able to move through another year together, well done. I am so grateful to have taken the journey with you. And I…I know I actually mention this most ends of every year, I know that midnight will come, a brand-new year will begin, we will embark on a grand journey again tomorrow and set sail and move together every day, step-by-step through another year. I know that will happen, it just won’t be the same as this, we’ve grown together, we’ve been a community together, we taken the next steps forward together. Tomorrow, they’ll be thousands of brand-new voices, that is exciting, cause it’ll form again, and it’ll be just the next step forward. And who knows what we get to experience, who knows what we get to learn in the coming year. I just also know that for some, this will be a goodbye and I hate them. I cannot even tell you how much I hate them. But my best counsel is that if you’ve established a relationship with the Bible and it has been a part of the rhythm of your life, find a way to keep that going. No matter how you get there, keep that going. It was 365 days ago that I suggested that we take a peek in the mirror and that we look at who we are, and to do it again in 365 days, today. And so, if we look in the mirror today and looked deep into our eyes, we may see another year of wear and tear, but we’re not looking back at the same person that we were a year ago. We’ve had many experiences, and we’ve grown in all kinds of ways, and we’ve taken a journey through the Scriptures and allowed them to do what they do inside of us, in shifting things around and working transformation within us. That needs to never stop. If you found a year in the Bible and going through every chapter, every verse and you found that was transforming in your life, then the one thing to not lose, no matter how you get it, but the one thing to not lose are the Scriptures and the rhythm. And that no matter where life leads, no matter what the paths are, we planned to always be here waiting for you, tomorrow. Do not be a stranger. And for those of us that will get off this ship, the ship of this year and grab our bags and board another ship and set sail again, I am eager, I’m excited. Eighteenth year of the Daily Audio Bible. I mean, when we complete that one year from today, when we complete our 18th year, that’s going to be something. The Daily Audio Bible is now an official adult. We have come of age. So, who knows where that will lead us, it’s exciting to think about and I can’t wait to watch the days unfold and watch that story become real. But for now, we are here, and we have finished. We have concluded another year in the Scriptures together and we should smile in the celebration together, we did it. And that leaves me here just wanted to keep riffing right, just keep on talking about whatever but even if I talk nothing but nonsense for 20 more minutes, we still had to stop at some point. And so, that’s part of just releasing the year with open hands and allowing it to become part of the story of our lives, the history of who we are, knowing that the story continues forward. And so, this is it, well done on a beautiful journey this year. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it and may the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. May the strength of God go with you. May the wisdom of God instruct you; may the hand of God protect you and the word of God direct you. May you be sealed in Christ this day and forever more. Amen.
I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, next year.