Category: 2026 BIble Reading Plan

Without Shame

Genesis 2, Proverbs 2, Matthew 1

Devotion by Aaron Winner (SC)

Visit any home with young children after bath time, and you’ll quickly understand that it is not uncommon to see a child streaking through the living room with nothing but a grin. Our children still live in a stage of innocence, and while their word “nakey” simply defines a lack of clothing, it carries none of the weight or connotations that often accompany the word naked. While comfort levels with wearing one’s birthday suit vary widely, physical exposure is usually reserved for environments of trust and intimacy.

Adam and Eve stood before one another in the Garden of Eden in such a state. Without shame, they walked fig-leafless as they tended to their calling as caretakers of creation. Their nakedness reinforced intimacy within marriage, but it also revealed something deeper. They stood before their heavenly Father “nakey” as well. As with childhood innocence, the absence of sin allowed exposure without fear. This openness demonstrated not only their relationship with one another, but also their unguarded connection with their Creator.

So, to have meaningful relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, should we band together to form a nudist colony? Please, no. But in a far more important spiritual sense, we are invited into this level of intimacy. God forms relationship with us through His presence as He moves alongside us while we tend His world—speaking truth, laboring together, and allowing Him to shape us through shared faith and testimony.

Narrowing our focus further to our nuclear families and closest friends, we are called to be even more personal and exposed, not performative or guarded in appearance. Whether we look at the forming of the first family, the father-to-son instruction in Proverbs, or the genealogy in Matthew, each offers examples (and warnings) of how trust, proximity, and intentional teaching shape the spiritual life of a household. Today is as good a day as any to check in on someone within this circle, or to seek them out, so that we might better know one another and, together, better know our Heavenly Father.

“For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it.” Proverbs 2:21

With the propitiation of sin through Jesus Christ, we can now be presented before God without shame. The promise remains the same: the blameless will remain in the land – A perfect, promised one to come, which makes me scratch my head and wonder, “Will our resurrected bodies be ‘nakey’?” I know we will be wearing smiles—and we will have to see about the rest. But even now, we are invited to live and walk with one another in a spiritual closeness that reflects what was once lost and is now being restored. And in that place, we may once again find ourselves standing without shame.

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you imagine life was like for Adam and Eve before sin entered? What do you imagine it was like for God? What changes took place with the first sin?
  2. What do you feel shame about? Why? What does God want for us when we feel shame? How can shame be overcome?
  3. What are your thoughts when you read Proverbs 2:21?
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Unpacking the Beginning

Genesis 1, Proverbs 1, Matthew 1

Devotion by Aaron Winner (SC)

Twenty years ago, I moved 1,000 miles with all my possessions loaded into a Buick Skylark, including my goldfish riding shotgun, to share a two-bedroom apartment with my newlywed wife. Now, as we move out of our home of fourteen years, it has taken six trips with a U-Haul, countless carloads, and a dumpster to move just 10 miles away. Granted, our family has grown to five people and a dog, but the math still doesn’t justify an increase of roughly 100 times more stuff. I can’t help but wonder: When did we get all of this? And why? Does it make us better equipped? Not necessarily. Does it bring us joy? Not really—especially not over the last month. Does it move us closer to God? Rarely.

This is not the rant of a minimalist millennial, nor a critique of your cherished possessions. There is still quite a plank in my own eye here. Rather, it is simply an acknowledgment that while we stand at the beginning of a calendar year, the beginning of a new reading plan, and the beginning of both the Old and New Testaments, we are not at the beginning of our lives. We carry things with us as we move from one year to the next. Our trailers in tow may look different, but they are often filled with trophies and affirmations, expectations and disappointment, habits and vices, grief and trauma. There can be a quiet vanity, trending toward insanity, in everything we accumulate along the way. However, in all of this, we can still look to “In the beginning…”

In Genesis 1, we are reminded that beginnings matter because our sovereign God is a God of purpose. Creation is not a random display of infinite power, but an act that makes all things matter (excuse the science pun). God purposely names, separates, and shapes what was formless, repeatedly calling it “good.” From the very first verse, we learn that clarity and meaning do not come from compiling, but from God’s intentional and intelligent design.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” —Proverbs 1:7

Accumulation can be a trap —more plans, better systems, or tighter control—will somehow translate into the power and wisdom of our Creator. However, Proverbs’ opening provides a clear contrast. It is a pursuit in fear and reverence that makes God’s wisdom accessible. As we begin to examine what fills our moving truck from one year to the next, it is through God’s understanding that we prioritize what matters, process the hurt, and chunk into the bin the things that no longer serve His purpose for us. A good start might simply be to pause your reading long enough to tell your Heavenly Father you are ready to revere Him in the coming year.

Finally, our last beginning comes from the Gospel of Matthew, where Mary is foretold of the birth of Jesus. Gabriel says He will be called Emmanuel—“God with us”—the ultimate title given to God’s greatest gift of great joy to creation. He entered a crowded, cluttered world, as He still does today, not asking us to take on baggage on His behalf, but instead inviting us to bear only the burden of His cross.It is the one thing that should be clear and conspicuous as we wander, move, and rove; it is Christ who shoulders the majority of the burden, carrying it alongside us.

As I consider this moment —and the truckloads of stuff waiting in storage—perhaps the question is not what can I add to make this year memorable, but instead, where can I begin to let go in reverent surrender. As we begin to unpack what the next year might hold, let us first make room for God’s presence, preparing only to keep only what can be called good by our Heavenly Father in the beginning.

Reflection Questions

  1. What are you carrying with you into the New Year? What positive things? What has been put into your moving truck that is not beneficial to you? What might God like to see you surrender this year?
  2. What do you love about the creation account? What do you learn about God from His creation?
  3. How do you/could you prioritize the fear of the Lord? Pray for God to give you wisdom, insight and dedication to living this new start in a way that is pleasing to Him.
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A New Bible Reading Plan for the New Year!

Our SeekGrowLove Bible reading plan for 2026 will cover the entire Bible in a year with 3 readings each day: Old Testament, Psalm/Proverbs and New Testament. We will read two gospels at the start of the year and two at the end. Proverbs will be read both in January and again in December. Most of the Psalm and Gospel chapters will be read at least twice, on consecutive days. Re-reading is a great practice to help us soak in the truths of God’s word.

Visit SeekGrowLove.com to subscribe and receive daily emails with devotions following the Bible reading plan. We thank the 44 people we heard from in 2025 who shared the daily Scriptures with us in order to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness. We look forward to more in the year ahead. God bless you all as together we Seek, Grow, and Love!

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