Daily Bible Reading-Term 1 Week 6

Week 6: What Sin Costs Us

Last week named sin. This week sits with its weight, what it actually costs, and what it deserves. The story turns dark too, facing real loss and real guilt head-on. It's a heavier week, but an honest one.

This week's readings:

- 30 Second Theology — "What happens to us because of sin?" (Isaiah 59:2) and "What does our sin deserve?" (Psalm 130:3)

- The Greatest Story Ever Told — "Murder" and "Guilt"

Day 1 — What Happens to Us Because of Sin?

Reading: 30 Second Theology, "What happens to us because of sin?" (Isaiah 59:2)

Isaiah is direct: sin separates. It puts distance between us and God, not because God pulls away, but because sin itself creates the gap.

Journal prompt: Where have I felt distant from God lately, and is there a specific sin I can trace that distance back to?

Prayer: God, thank you for telling me the truth about what sin does. Close the distance I've created — draw me back to you today.

Day 2 — What Does Our Sin Deserve?

Reading: 30 Second Theology, "What does our sin deserve?" (Psalm 130:3)

The psalmist asks a sobering question: if God kept a record of every wrong, who could stand? None of us could answer for ourselves, which is exactly why grace matters so much.

Journal prompt: How does it feel to sit with the truth that I can't earn my way out of what I owe, and that grace is the only way through?

Prayer: Lord, if you kept a record of my sins, I couldn't stand. Thank you that you don't deal with me that way. Help me receive your grace instead of trying to earn it.

Day 3 — Murder

Reading: The Greatest Story Ever Told, "Murder"

A ruler's fear leads to devastating violence against innocent children. It's a stark reminder that sin's cost isn't abstract, it's real, and it's often paid by the vulnerable.

Journal prompt: How does this chapter change the way I think about the cost of unchecked fear or power in the world today?

Prayer: God, this is a hard chapter. Be close to anyone suffering because of someone else's sin right now, and help me never treat that kind of suffering lightly.

Day 4 — Guilt

Reading: The Greatest Story Ever Told, "Guilt"

In the aftermath of violence and fear, guilt settles over the story, a reminder that sin doesn't just wound the people it's done to, it also weighs on the ones who did it.

Journal prompt: Is there guilt I've been carrying that I haven't brought to God yet?

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you don't want me carrying guilt alone. I bring what I've been holding onto you now, and I ask for your forgiveness and peace.

Day 5 — Integration

Reading: No new reading — look back over the week.

This was a heavy week: sin's real cost in Scripture, and sin's real cost in the story. But both point toward the same hope: God doesn't leave us in the weight of it.

Journal prompt: This week I read about what sin costs and deserves, and I watched that cost play out in the story. Where do I need to bring my own guilt to God honestly this week?

Prayer: God, thank you for this week, even though it was hard. Thank you that you meet us honestly in our guilt and don't leave us there. Carry me into the week ahead with that hope.