Today October 10
The Life of Christ
A thousand years of privilege
"Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" — Luke 13:7 · KJV
For more than a thousand years the Jewish nation had abused God's mercy and invited His judgments. They had rejected His warnings and slain His prophets. For these sins the people of Christ's day made themselves responsible by following the same course. In the rejection of their present mercies and warnings lay the guilt of that generation. The fetters which the nation had for centuries been forging, the people of Christ's day were fastening upon themselves.
In every age there is given to men their day of light and privilege, a probationary time in which they may become reconciled to God. But there is a limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be slighted and rejected; but there comes a time when mercy makes her last plea. The heart becomes so hardened that it ceases to respond to the Spirit of God. Then the sweet, winning voice entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings cease.
That day had come to Jerusalem. Jesus wept in anguish over the doomed city, but He could not deliver her. He had exhausted every resource. In rejecting the warnings of God's Spirit, Israel had rejected the only means of help. There was no other power by which they could be delivered.
The Jewish nation was a symbol of the people of all ages who scorn the pleadings of Infinite Love. The tears of Christ when He wept over Jerusalem were for the sins of all time. In the judgments pronounced upon Israel, those who reject the reproofs and warnings of God's Holy Spirit, may read their own condemnation.
In this generation there are many who are treading on the same ground as were the unbelieving Jews. They have witnessed the manifestation of the power of God; the Holy Spirit has spoken to their hearts; but they cling to their unbelief and resistance. God sends them warnings and reproof, but they are not willing to confess their errors, and they reject His message and His messenger. The very means He uses for their recovery becomes to them a stone of stumbling.
The Life of Christ, Ellen G. White · this reading’s own page
Ellen G. White · A reading for each day of the year
A year through the life of Jesus, gathered from Ellen G. White's published writing and told in the order the events happened — the birth, the hidden years, the calling of the twelve, the miracles and the teaching, the last journey to Jerusalem, the upper room, the cross and the empty tomb. Each reading opens with a verse and then gives her own words, unaltered. The selection and the arrangement are Biblion's own.
January
- January 1 — God with us
- January 2 — The angels find joy in giving
- January 3 — The earth was dark with misunderstanding
- January 4 — A voice of mysterious import
- January 5 — Now we know what God is like
- January 6 — Stones of a crown
- January 7 — I will bless thee
- January 8 — What they lost by departing
- January 9 — Foretold in Eden
- January 10 — The fullness of the time
- January 11 — Others were looking too
- January 12 — Steadfast souls remained
- January 13 — Kept from a knowledge of God
- January 14 — The pillar that failed
- January 15 — The unfallen worlds watched
- January 16 — They had wondered at the plan
- January 17 — Angels attended the journey
- January 18 — Visions of glory
- January 19 — They departed with great joy
- January 20 — Only the firstborn
- January 21 — Brought to the priest
- January 22 — The offering the law required
- January 23 — Simeon enters the temple
- January 24 — Set for the fall and rising
- January 25 — Love and selfishness face to face
- January 26 — Meant for others too
- January 27 — The city heard of their arrival
- January 28 — The priests were not ignorant
- January 29 — Soldiers sent to Bethlehem
- January 30 — The Lord hath anointed Me
- January 31 — Therefore doth My Father love Me
February
- February 1 — Warned in a dream
- February 2 — The brief record of His childhood
- February 3 — The town without a school
- February 4 — Mind and body grew together
- February 5 — A fountain of healing mercy
- February 6 — He understands the poor
- February 7 — The feast in early spring
- February 8 — Seven days of unleavened bread
- February 9 — The school beside the temple
- February 10 — Three days of searching
- February 11 — Wist ye not?
- February 12 — He did not ignore His parents
- February 13 — Had they stayed their minds on God
- February 14 — Why hast Thou dealt with us so
- February 15 — As His mind opened to His work
- February 16 — He was not exclusive
- February 17 — The bitterness that falls to us
- February 18 — Why He did not join them
- February 19 — Reproved for not obeying
- February 20 — He brought them living water
- February 21 — A life of respect and love
- February 22 — The Spirit rested on Zacharias
- February 23 — Character formed early
- February 24 — He called them to repentance
- February 25 — To hearts with the law written in them
- February 26 — The ax laid to the root
- February 27 — John knew what had marked His birth
- February 28 — John drew back
- February 29 — Repentance beyond our reach
March
- March 1 — Mighty issues at stake
- March 2 — Satan knew One had come
- March 3 — Conquer or be conquered
- March 4 — Could He have failed?
- March 5 — Words still ringing in His ears
- March 6 — Not without a struggle
- March 7 — The last great conflict
- March 8 — Appetite, and what it costs
- March 9 — He hath nothing in Me
- March 10 — He shall give His angels charge
- March 11 — It is written again
- March 12 — When distrust fails, presumption
- March 13 — The kingdoms shown from a height
- March 14 — The offer refused
- March 15 — He had questioned who He was
- March 16 — John's preaching took hold
- March 17 — Why baptizest thou then?
- March 18 — Who art thou?
- March 19 — He came in poverty
- March 20 — He knew they were following
- March 21 — Follow Me
- March 22 — Had Nathanael trusted the rabbis
- March 23 — Channels of light
- March 24 — He who gives light receives it
- March 25 — He returned to Galilee
- March 26 — She met the same tender son
- March 27 — Mine hour is not yet come
- March 28 — Whatsoever He saith unto you
- March 29 — A symbol of His gift
- March 30 — Confess your faults
- March 31 — When sin has deadened us
April
- April 1 — The tide turning away
- April 2 — All men come to Him
- April 3 — Called to lead out
- April 4 — The well Jacob dug
- April 5 — She was impressed
- April 6 — What He told her plainly
- April 7 — He thirsts for recognition
- April 8 — He that reapeth receiveth wages
- April 9 — They despised the simplicity
- April 10 — The wall in the temple
- April 11 — He is carrying it forward still
- April 12 — Evidence, and still they asked
- April 13 — At that same hour
- April 14 — The father hurried to meet him
- April 15 — Walking alone among them
- April 16 — He did not ask for faith first
- April 17 — He stooped to take up his bed
- April 18 — A law made into a burden
- April 19 — To magnify the law
- April 20 — What we should regard as duty
- April 21 — The Nazarene asserts His nobility
- April 22 — Authority to execute judgment
- April 23 — In every page
- April 24 — I receive not honour from men
- April 25 — Had ye believed Moses
- April 26 — A life of labour, then a cell
- April 27 — A mystery beyond his fathoming
- April 28 — Art thou He that should come?
- April 29 — Blessed is he who is not offended
- April 30 — The warfare against self
May
- May 1 — The people that sat in darkness
- May 2 — They had toiled all night
- May 3 — Depart from me
- May 4 — That sad night on the lake
- May 5 — Why He chose fishermen
- May 6 — Nothing to boast of
- May 7 — The plain beside the lake
- May 8 — What He left alone
- May 9 — He never flattered
- May 10 — He spoke of a kingdom
- May 11 — The eye that had glared
- May 12 — The length of His ministry
- May 13 — History repeating
- May 14 — How the wicked one is overcome
- May 15 — While they were still wondering
- May 16 — They came early to find Him
- May 17 — The warning justified
- May 18 — They had asserted otherwise
- May 19 — He too had lost hope
- May 20 — Teaching in Peter's house
- May 21 — Words like music
- May 22 — His glance fixed on them
- May 23 — Healing for both
- May 24 — The publican at his booth
- May 25 — What his calling meant
- May 26 — They learned who was at the feast
- May 27 — Silenced, but not answered
- May 28 — John's disciples were grieved
- May 29 — The Prince of heaven among them
- May 30 — Too wise to need a physician
- May 31 — You have confessed your sins
June
- June 1 — They set out after the crowd left
- June 2 — Despair, and they call again
- June 3 — Roused by terrified fishermen
- June 4 — The billows sink to rest
- June 5 — How often their experience is ours
- June 6 — They fled in terror
- June 7 — What the swineherds saw
- June 8 — Living evidence before them
- June 9 — The fearful change
- June 10 — Evidence they would not read
- June 11 — They marvelled at his news
- June 12 — Whose influence rules the world
- June 13 — He set out with the ruler
- June 14 — A tremor passed through her
- June 15 — She tried to withdraw
- June 16 — The crowd pressed, one touched
- June 17 — What they had learned with Him
- June 18 — To labour as He did
- June 19 — Not to act out the world's way
- June 20 — Continuing His instruction
- June 21 — No set speeches prepared
- June 22 — The servant is not above his master
- June 23 — They told Him all things
- June 24 — After the success, the danger
- June 25 — John's disciples came
- June 26 — Words of compassion for us too
- June 27 — No life so crowded
- June 28 — Come ye yourselves apart
- June 29 — He looked on the multitude
- June 30 — He may not tell the exact hour
July
- July 1 — Arrived at Gennesaret
- July 2 — Their interest was awakened
- July 3 — Still thinking of bread
- July 4 — The prejudice lay deeper
- July 5 — They referred Him to the manna
- July 6 — He did not soften it
- July 7 — Written for you
- July 8 — As food sustains the body
- July 9 — Looking constantly to Him
- July 10 — The test was too great
- July 11 — His fan is in His hand
- July 12 — The ground of complaint
- July 13 — He made no defence
- July 14 — He never lessened obligation
- July 15 — Precepts of men for God's
- July 16 — A woman of Canaan came
- July 17 — She urged her case
- July 18 — He longed to unfold it
- July 19 — Afterward, when they turned away
- July 20 — They laid the sick at His feet
- July 21 — A deputation came
- July 22 — He sighed deeply
- July 23 — When truth is presented today
- July 24 — He turned and left them
- July 25 — The same influences work still
- July 26 — Ever before Him
- July 27 — Sadly they acknowledged it
- July 28 — Upon this rock
- July 29 — Six thousand years of building
- July 30 — They still expected a throne
- July 31 — No skill of man can produce it
August
- August 1 — Only a little before
- August 2 — Divinity clothed with humanity
- August 3 — He gathered them about Him
- August 4 — Tenderly, and with emphasis
- August 5 — The words awakened shame
- August 6 — Harshness toward one He is drawing
- August 7 — Any habit that leads to sin
- August 8 — Let him fix his eyes
- August 9 — The closing feast of the year
- August 10 — Song and thanksgiving
- August 11 — My time is not yet come
- August 12 — The report had gone before Him
- August 13 — They wondered at His knowledge
- August 14 — The ceremony that morning
- August 15 — On the first day of the feast
- August 16 — Evidence of His divine mission
- August 17 — Many who dwelt in Jerusalem
- August 18 — Whither will He go?
- August 19 — Deceived in the same way today
- August 20 — He withdrew from the city
- August 21 — Impatient at His delay
- August 22 — She stood cowering
- August 23 — Christ is the door
- August 24 — He that entereth by the door
- August 25 — He knows His flock
- August 26 — He calls them by name
- August 27 — However much a shepherd loves them
- August 28 — He set His face to go
- August 29 — He sent messengers before Him
- August 30 — Body, soul, and spirit
- August 31 — His joy was in uplifting others
September
- September 1 — They brought the children
- September 2 — The mothers went comforted
- September 3 — What He saw in them
- September 4 — Encourage the expression of love
- September 5 — The young man who asked
- September 6 — He looked into his face
- September 7 — One thing thou lackest
- September 8 — He discerned what it meant
- September 9 — Written for us
- September 10 — Had they not proclaimed it
- September 11 — Who stands nearest
- September 12 — Not to be ministered unto
- September 13 — The one thing Martha needed
- September 14 — Two days that seemed silence
- September 15 — If any man walk in the day
- September 16 — Then He told them plainly
- September 17 — Thy brother shall rise
- September 18 — He saw the enmity coming
- September 19 — Groaning in Himself
- September 20 — The stone is rolled away
- September 21 — He cried with a loud voice
- September 22 — The Sadducees joined them
- September 23 — At the height of its confusion
- September 24 — Precious words on his lips
- September 25 — What Satan told them
- September 26 — A city set apart
- September 27 — Small of stature
- September 28 — After the ruler turned away
- September 29 — If we have injured others
- September 30 — Not on any man's testimony
October
- October 1 — Following the custom for a king
- October 2 — Never before had He allowed it
- October 3 — The crowd grew as they went
- October 4 — Not for Himself He wept
- October 5 — He raised His hand
- October 6 — The child of His care
- October 7 — They saw the hatred
- October 8 — He passed unnoticed to the temple
- October 9 — A warning for all time
- October 10 — A thousand years of privilege
- October 11 — Little did they realize
- October 12 — Met on the way
- October 13 — The sound of children's voices
- October 14 — By what authority?
- October 15 — It was not a display of learning
- October 16 — He addressed them all
- October 17 — Looking with pity
- October 18 — On whomsoever it shall fall
- October 19 — They chafed under the tax
- October 20 — No evasion, but an answer
- October 21 — No sooner silenced than another came
- October 22 — What the Sadducees rejected
- October 23 — By word and work He testified
- October 24 — If they had known the Scriptures
- October 25 — Their interest was fixed on Him
- October 26 — Titles, then and now
- October 27 — Where the treasury stood
- October 28 — Laws the rabbis had perverted
- October 29 — The Greeks who asked to see Him
- October 30 — Take heed
- October 31 — More distinct views of Jesus
November
- November 1 — Gathered about the table
- November 2 — When they entered the room
- November 3 — Judas chose his place
- November 4 — We too have been washed
- November 5 — What He would have them understand
- November 6 — The holy Watcher is present
- November 7 — To those who receive its spirit
- November 8 — At the deliverance from Egypt
- November 9 — The betrayer was present
- November 10 — As they realized His meaning
- November 11 — The woe pronounced
- November 12 — He knew him from the beginning
- November 13 — Ordinances that point to it
- November 14 — How much more true today
- November 15 — Thomas was perplexed
- November 16 — Believe Me that I am in the Father
- November 17 — He shall be loved of My Father
- November 18 — They were to bear witness
- November 19 — The Spirit of truth
- November 20 — The gift promised to us also
- November 21 — After the hymn, they went out
- November 22 — I am the true Vine
- November 23 — Abide in Me
- November 24 — Earnestly conversing as they went
- November 25 — He left them near the entrance
- November 26 — As He felt His unity broken
- November 27 — The heart longs for sympathy
- November 28 — Three times He prayed
- November 29 — The unfallen worlds watched
- November 30 — He never asks blind belief
December
- December 1 — Bound before the governor
- December 2 — What accusation bring ye?
- December 3 — Judge Him yourselves
- December 4 — They shifted the charge
- December 5 — Pilate was astonished
- December 6 — His word was His kingdom
- December 7 — He had no thought of condemning
- December 8 — Sent to Herod
- December 9 — Herod's promise
- December 10 — The mission He came for
- December 11 — Sent back again
- December 12 — Disappointed and displeased
- December 13 — He was not left to act blindly
- December 14 — Pilate's face grew pale
- December 15 — He had not thought it would come to this
- December 16 — Satan led the mob
- December 17 — Given up to be scourged
- December 18 — The soldiers around Him
- December 19 — Knowest Thou not?
- December 20 — He took his place on the seat
- December 21 — He longed to deliver Him
- December 22 — A multitude followed
- December 23 — What the crowd saw
- December 24 — Arriving at the place
- December 25 — He made no murmur
- December 26 — As soon as He was nailed
- December 27 — The earthquake at the hour
- December 28 — He brought them from the grave
- December 29 — Christ is the resurrection
- December 30 — His first work after rising
- December 31 — Set as light bearers
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