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As I make my way through this devotional (I received a pre-release electronic copy in exchange for an honest review), I find myself thinking, “I need a devotional like this.” I simply love this devotional. Part of why I like it so much has to do with my desire to keep my Greek language skills. Keeping my Greek skills has not been easy. At this point, my ability to use Greek is mixed at best. I am not a close to being a Greek scholar, but I am able to keep up with most commentaries that use Greek. I am not able to read the Greek New Testament without a lot of help and I struggle with Greek grammar. I certainly can’t read Greek well enough to gain insight into the Scripture. This devotional cultivates my desire to dive into the Greek New Testament and, concurrently, deepens my understanding of the text and my life of faith!
This devotional uses Greek in order to enhance one’s devotional understanding of the text rather than just gain more technical information. To reach such a goal the authors explain the, sometimes technical, grammatical details and issues, but they do so in order point out what English translations sometimes miss. The result is seeing passages with new eyes and also discovering how one can use Greek to recast familiar passages.
I highly recommend this devotional to those who are familiar with Greek and are interested in using Greek to give insight into Scripture and also strengthen their faith. This would be an excellent resource not only for pastors, but for students of the Greek New Testament as well. Each of the fifty-two readings gives insight both into the text and how one might approach the Greek New Testament devotionally. Various New Testament Greek scholars contributed to this work, so it is not the work of one or two authors. The only suggestion I would make is to have a closing prayer for each of the devotions, pulling the theme of the day’s (or week’s) reading into the prayer. I would also like to see more resources like this because it illustrates how Greek can be made practical and can deepen one’s faith and understanding.
In Psalm 119, the writer shares his love of God’s word. He wants to learn it, be guided by it and meditate on it day and night. He views it as a light, and a comfort and in God’s word he places his trust. I have not always resonated with Psalm 119. Instead, I have found reading and studying the scripture…well…hard, difficult, and at times frustrating. I have used it as a sword against those who disagree, and have had the displeasure of having it used as a dagger against me. I have spent hours trying to understand it and at times have found myself shaking my head because it didn’t always make sense to me.