Devotional Bible reading - intentional and ongoing interaction with Scripture - can bless, encourage, and strengthen our spiritual lives. Such predictable encounters provide recurring reminders of God's involvement in and vision for the world. Without planned visits to its pages, however, the Bible is a book we hear about only from others, likely in worship or Sunday school settings. Devotional reading fosters reflection and feeds the soul. TRANSLATION: It's a good thing!

But it can also be a time consuming thing. If the thought of regular rendezvous with Scripture appeals to you, but you're not sure you have the time or discipline to make them happen in your life, we invite you to check out our new daily devotional called "ONEverse" that  debuted May 1, both on our website and Facebook page.

Every day, ONEverse offers a single verse from somewhere in the Bible, Old Testament or New, along with a few comments, observations, and/or questions created by our pastor, Bill Coley.  The mission of ONEverse is to encourage and challenge you in your spiritual journey, and to do so in a way that won't ask for much of your time. Some verses will remind you of your place in God's family. Other verses will hold a mirror up to your life and invite you to engage in honest self-evaluation. All verses will have the potential to bless.

You might wonder about the context of the single verses this devotional will present - after all, surrounding verses almost always deepen our understanding of individual verses. That's a great point to which we have three responses: 1) the ONEverse verses are chosen in part because they speak for themselves, or because their obvious meanings don't conflict with nearby verses; 2) Bill Coley's comments usually refer to surrounding verses; 3) we include a biblegateway.com link to the New Living Translation of the larger passage of which each verse is a part.

We intend for ONEverse to be a quick but thoughtful addition to your day. Check it out!