Wayfarer

God promises protection, fruitfulness, and flourishing—not as wages earned, but as the natural overflow of covenant intimacy. Obedience here is not stiff-backed compliance; it’s trust leaning its full weight into the arms of a faithful Lover. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 7. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In my Bible there is a photograph. I don’t even remember putting it there. I think it randomly surfaced and I just shoved it inside the cover of my bible because it was convenient in the moment. It’s still there years later. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 6. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Suddenly, my life-long perception of ten black-and-white “commands” is laid bare for the hollow and meager interpretive shell it has always been. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 5. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Deuteronomy is Moses taking the face of his people lovingly in his withered hands and looking them in the eye one last time. These are the words of his deathbed. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 4. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Before there was Goliath there was Og, King of Bashan. There are moments for all of us when we’re facing our own giants. Sometimes they are just rumors. Sometimes they are very, very real. In either case, God’s message never changes. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Today’s chapter is about restraint, timing, and finally stepping into what God has purposed, planned, and prepared. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

What could and should have been an eleven day trip has taken them 40 years to bring them to this place in this moment — because they were afraid to follow God into the Promised Land. Forty years in the wilderness was not so much punishment as it was spiritual formation. A chapter-a-day podcast from Deuteronomy 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Today’s final chapter of Hebrews reads like the last day of camp. A a heart-felt list of loving marching orders from a camp counselor to a tearful camper who doesn’t want to return to “real life.” A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 13. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The author of Hebrews is writing to an audience of believers in the middle of a grueling real-life marathon. They are at risk of hitting the wall. The author knows it. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 12. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When today’s chapter speaks of the unseen — of walking toward a country you’ve never seen, of trusting a God that cannot be measured — it presses all my deepest buttons. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 11. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

There is a spiritual reality and an earthly reality. Spiritually I am graciously and mercifully forgiven forever, eternally cleansed from sin’s stain. Physically, I am a wayfaring stranger continuing to make my way through this world of woe. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 10. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Troubled times. Political corruption. Nationalism zealously on the rise. Assassinations increasingly common. Political resentments. Religious fervor. Arrogance of the ruling class. I’m not talking about today. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 9. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

If I miss this thread in the Great Story, it’s like me watching the original "Star Wars" movie and thinking Luke and Darth Vader are unrelated antagonists. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 8. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

As a shame-based person, I can tell you that shame will always doggedly remind me what a worthless wretch I am. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 7. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The rain of grace keeps falling; what I tend determines what grows. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 6. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my journey, I’ve come to realize that there are certain spiritual truths that require effort, pursuit, experience, and even suffering in order for them to be revealed. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 5. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

There is then a spiritual “rest” that Jesus offers “Today” as shelter amidst the violent daily storms that arise unexpectedly on this earthly journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 4. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Today's chapter whispers a simple but fierce truth to me in the quiet this morning:  Faithfulness is a daily choice. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 3. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com.

The God who spoke galaxies into being also whispers comfort beside our hospital beds and tax forms and broken dreams. He doesn’t rescue from afar; He wades into the flood beside us. He sanctifies our suffering by sharing it. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 2. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The author of Hebrews has forever been steeped in mystery, but from the opening sentences there is no doubt what the book is about. A chapter-a-day podcast from Hebrews 1. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com. YouTube video referenced in today’s podcast: https://youtu.be/b9tmOyrIlYM?si=fyUh4xrrD5ooFRm1

There is a spiritual waxing and waning that most people experience across their lives. The spiritual journey is not an event but an epic story. A chapter-a-day podcast from Nehemiah 13. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Being home. What a crazy thought. For most of my life, that desire barely existed inside me. A chapter-a-day podcast from Nehemiah 12. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Sometimes, God needs people who simply have the faith and willingness to show up and do what needs to be done. A chapter-a-day podcast from Nehemiah 11. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Nehemiah and the Hebrews’ story is really a love story between God and a people saying again:  “We’re still yours.” A chapter-a-day podcast from Nehemiah 10. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Truth is always found at the point of tension between the two extremes. Whether in QA or in Life, the covenant relationship between God and humanity is constantly finding the tension. Today’s chapter is a great example. A chapter-a-day podcast from Nehemiah 9. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .