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Meditate on His Word: Summer Reading Plan
Introduction
The long days of Summer are the perfect invitation to slow down, breathe, and let the Word of God take deeper root. This 70-day journey through the Ten Commandments asks you to do exactly that: to meditate on the words God spoke from the fire at Sinai and to discover what they are still saying.
The Ten Commandments are not a checklist of ancient rules or a moral ceiling to clear. They are what the Hebrew Bible actually calls them, aseret haddevarim, the Ten Words. They are words from God who not only rescued His people from slavery, but gave His Commandments to cultivate a community rooted in freedom, justice, and love. Meditating on them is less like memorizing a law code and more like learning the character of the One who gave them.
This plan gives one full week to each commandment, tracing every word through the whole arc of Scripture, from Sinai to the prophets to Jesus to the early church, letting the Bible interpret itself and revealing how these ancient words are still alive and still speaking. Each week follows the same rhythm: the commandment itself and its Old Testament context, then how the prophets applied it, how Jesus deepened it, how the New Testament letters carry it forward, a psalm to close the week, and a reflection with a concrete practice to carry into the days ahead.
Inspired by the Bible Project This plan is shaped by The Bible Project’s guide to the Ten Commandments, which traces each command through its literary and theological context. Explore the full guide and all ten commandment videos at: https://bibleproject.com/guides/the-10-commandments/ https://bibleproject.com/guides/the-10-commandments/#the-10-commandments-later-in-the-bible
“God’s 10 Commandments are a gift to people rescued from slavery in their exodus from Egypt. These commands are not moral boxes to check or ancient rules to appease God. They are divine wisdom designed to form a free society marked by love, justice, and total trust in God.
The New Testament doesn’t discard the 10 Commandments; it reads them in the light of Jesus’ teaching and through the lens of His resurrection. Love fulfills the commands. Worship finds its true center in Jesus. Obedience becomes the joyful way of people who carry the name of Christ.”
How to Use This Plan
Read slowly. Take your time with each passage. Read it multiple times if needed.
Speak it aloud. The Hebrew concept of meditation involves quietly speaking Scripture. Let the words move from page to voice to heart.
Ponder the puzzles. Notice what seems unclear or surprising. These ambiguities are invitations to deeper discovery.
Journal and discuss. Write down observations and questions. Talk about what you’re reading with friends or family.
Return and reflect. Come back to passages throughout the week. Let connections emerge across the readings.
Share it forward. This plan is meant to travel. Pray about who in your circle of care you might invite to read alongside you — a friend, a family member, a neighbor, or someone in the congregation you’ve been meaning to walk closer with. Ask God to show you who that person is, how to introduce it simply, and how to follow up as the weeks go on. We love others best when we love them with the Word (2 Timothy 1:5; Deuteronomy 6:20-25; Psalm 51:13, 15), and the Holy Spirit has a way of making Scripture mean more to us when we are actively sharing it with someone else.
📺 Begin Here: The 10 Commandments as Wisdom Watch this introductory video before starting Week 1. It frames the entire journey, showing how the Ten Words function not as restrictions but as divine wisdom designed to form a people marked by freedom, love, and trust in God.
Week 1: 1st Commandment, No Other Gods
Theme: Singular Allegiance to the God Who Rescues
📺 Watch: 1st Commandment: No Other Gods
Day 1 (Sunday, June 28): Exodus 19:3-8 Focus: God’s covenant invitation at Sinai; the rescue comes before the commands, and he already proved he could be trusted
Day 2 (Monday, June 29): Exodus 20:1-3 Focus: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt,” a call to exclusive devotion rooted in a prior act of love
Day 3 (Tuesday, June 30): Deuteronomy 4:35-40 Focus: The LORD alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other
Day 4 (Wednesday, July 1) (In the Prophets): Isaiah 40:18-31 Focus: To whom can you compare God? He never grows weary and gives strength to those who wait on him
Day 5 (Thursday, July 2) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Matthew 22:34-40; Matthew 10:37-39 Focus: Love God with everything; Jesus himself reframes what “no other gods” ultimately demands
Day 6 (Friday, July 3) (In the NT Letters): 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; Philippians 2:10-11 Focus: “There is no God but one,” and every knee will bow to the name of Jesus
Day 7 (Saturday, July 4): Psalm 86:8-13 Focus: Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; you alone are God, and you have delivered my soul from death
Week 1 Reflection: Write down one thing God has already rescued you from or provided for you. Then name the rival allegiance you’re most tempted to trust instead of him this week. Carry both into the days ahead.
Week 2: 2nd Commandment, No Idols
Theme: The Absurdity and Tragedy of Trusting What Cannot Deliver
📺 Watch: 2nd Commandment: No Idols
Day 8 (Sunday, July 5): Exodus 20:4-6 Focus: You shall not make for yourself an idol; making an image of God shrinks the limitless to something manageable and false
Day 9 (Monday, July 6): Isaiah 44:6-20 Focus: A craftsman makes a god from the same wood he cooks his dinner with, a bitter irony
Day 10 (Tuesday, July 7): Psalm 115:3-8 Focus: Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases, and those who make idols become like them
Day 11 (Wednesday, July 8) (In the Prophets): Jeremiah 10:1-10 Focus: Idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they must be carried because they cannot walk, and they cannot save
Day 12 (Thursday, July 9) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Matthew 4:8-10; Matthew 6:24 Focus: Jesus refuses to bow before the tempter; no one can serve two masters
Day 13 (Friday, July 10) (In the NT Letters): Romans 1:21-25; Colossians 1:15-17 Focus: Exchanging the glory of God for images; Christ is the true image in whom all fullness dwells
Day 14 (Saturday, July 11): Psalm 135:15-18 Focus: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands; those who trust in them become like them
Week 2 Reflection: Identify one habit, screen, or distraction that competes for your deepest attention. Set it aside for a full day this week. At the end of that day, journal what the absence revealed about what you’ve been trusting.
Week 3: 3rd Commandment, Do Not Carry the Name in Vain
Theme: Bearing God’s Reputation Before the World
📺 Watch: 3rd Commandment: Do Not Carry the Name in Vain
Day 15 (Sunday, July 12): Exodus 20:7 Focus: The Hebrew nasa’ means “to carry or bear”; this command is about representation, not merely profanity
Day 16 (Monday, July 13): Exodus 28:12; Leviticus 19:12 Focus: Aaron carries the names of Israel’s tribes before God; swearing falsely by God’s name profanes it
Day 17 (Tuesday, July 14): Leviticus 22:31-33; Leviticus 18:21 Focus: What it means to “profane” God’s name, breaking His commands while appealing to His name
Day 18 (Wednesday, July 15) (In the Prophets): Jeremiah 34:12-16; Amos 2:6-9 Focus: Leaders who free slaves then re-enslave them; the wealthy who exploit the poor. Both acts profane God’s name before the watching world
Day 19 (Thursday, July 16) (In Jesus’ Teaching): John 5:43; John 17:6 Focus: Jesus comes in His Father’s name and makes that name fully known, the most complete honoring of it possible
Day 20 (Friday, July 17) (In the NT Letters): Romans 2:17-24; Colossians 3:17 Focus: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you”; “whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus”
Day 21 (Saturday, July 18): Psalm 8 Focus: O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth
Week 3 Reflection: Think of one relationship or setting where people know you follow God. Write down one specific way you will honor His name there this week, then do it before Sunday.
Week 4: 4th Commandment, Remember the Sabbath
Theme: The Gift of Rest in a World Demanding Endless Toil
📺 Watch: 4th Commandment: Remember the Sabbath
Day 22 (Sunday, July 19): Exodus 20:8-11 Focus: Six days of labor; the seventh a Sabbath, rest woven into creation from the beginning
Day 23 (Monday, July 20): Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Focus: The Exodus version grounds Sabbath in creation; this version grounds it in liberation. Remember what it meant to have no rest
Day 24 (Tuesday, July 21): Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 23:12 Focus: God was “refreshed” on the seventh day, and the Sabbath rest extends to servants, animals, and immigrants
Day 25 (Wednesday, July 22) (In the Prophets): Isaiah 56:1-7 Focus: Blessed is the one who keeps the Sabbath; God’s house will be a house of prayer for all nations
Day 26 (Thursday, July 23) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Mark 2:23-28; Mark 3:1-6 Focus: The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath; healing cannot violate a day designed for flourishing
Day 27 (Friday, July 24) (In the NT Letters): Hebrews 4:9-11; Colossians 2:16-17 Focus: A Sabbath rest remains for the people of God, and the Sabbath was a shadow pointing to Christ
Day 28 (Saturday, July 25): Psalm 92:1-5 Focus: A psalm for the Sabbath day; it is good to give thanks to the LORD
Week 4 Reflection: This week, block out one genuine Sabbath hour: no phone, no tasks, no productivity. Sit quietly with God. Afterward, write down what resistance came up and what you discovered in the stillness.
Week 5: 5th Commandment, Honor Your Father and Mother
Theme: Treating Dignity as a Weighty, Serious Matter
📺 Watch: 5th Commandment: Honor Your Father and Mother
Day 29 (Sunday, July 26): Exodus 20:12 Focus: “Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long,” the only commandment with a promise attached
Day 30 (Monday, July 27): Proverbs 6:20-24; Deuteronomy 11:18-19 Focus: Bind their teaching on your heart; tie it around your neck. Parents’ instruction is wisdom for the whole journey
Day 31 (Tuesday, July 28): Proverbs 23:22-25; Proverbs 1:8-9 Focus: Listen to your father; do not despise your mother when she is old, wisdom that adorns you like a garland
Day 32 (Wednesday, July 29) (In the Prophets): Malachi 4:5-6; Ezekiel 22:7 Focus: Turning hearts of parents to children and children to parents; the indictment of a city that treats father and mother with contempt
Day 33 (Thursday, July 30) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Matthew 15:3-6; Luke 2:51-52 Focus: Jesus rebukes religious leaders for using piety to avoid caring for parents, and he himself “was obedient to them”
Day 34 (Friday, July 31) (In the NT Letters): Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20-21 Focus: Children, honor parents in the Lord; fathers, do not provoke your children. Honor flows in both directions
Day 35 (Saturday, August 1): Psalm 127:3-5; Psalm 128 Focus: Children are a gift from God; the blessed home flows from fearing the LORD
Week 5 Reflection: This week, reach out to a parent, grandparent, or elder (a call, a text, or a visit) to let them know their life matters to you. If they have passed, write them a letter, read it aloud, and share with someone what you wrote.
Week 6: 6th Commandment, Do Not Kill
Theme: Life in the Image of God, Breaking the Cycle of Violence
📺 Watch: 6th Commandment: Do Not Kill
Day 36 (Sunday, August 2): Exodus 20:13 Focus: The Hebrew ratsakh is broader than “murder,” an invitation to meditate on the full tragedy of human violence
Day 37 (Monday, August 3): Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 9:5-6 Focus: Humans carry the image of God; taking human life works against God’s original intent for creation
Day 38 (Tuesday, August 4): Genesis 4:8-12; Genesis 6:11-12 Focus: Cain kills Abel; Abel’s blood cries from the ground, and the earth fills with violence before the flood
Day 39 (Wednesday, August 5) (In the Prophets): Isaiah 1:15-17; Jeremiah 7:5-7 Focus: God will not hear the prayers of hands stained with blood; stop doing wrong, seek justice, defend the oppressed
Day 40 (Thursday, August 6) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Matthew 5:21-26 Focus: You can avoid killing and still hold someone in contempt; Jesus locates the root of murder in anger and dismissal
Day 41 (Friday, August 7) (In the NT Letters): Romans 13:9-10; 1 John 3:14-16 Focus: Love does no harm to a neighbor; anyone who hates a brother is a murderer
Day 42 (Saturday, August 8): Psalm 139:13-18 Focus: You knit me together in my mother’s womb, the intimate knowledge behind every human life
Week 6 Reflection: Name one person you’ve dismissed, avoided, or spoken about with contempt. Pray for them by name each day this week. Before Sunday, reach out to them with one kind word: a text, a note, or a conversation.
Week 7: 7th Commandment, Do Not Commit Adultery
Theme: Covenant Faithfulness as a Mirror of God’s Own Love
📺 Watch: 7th Commandment: Do Not Commit Adultery
Day 43 (Sunday, August 9): Exodus 20:14 Focus: “You shall not commit adultery,” protecting the sacred covenant at the heart of community life
Day 44 (Monday, August 10): Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 19:4-6 Focus: A man and woman become one flesh, something God himself has joined together
Day 45 (Tuesday, August 11): Proverbs 6:27-32; Proverbs 2:10-19 Focus: Israel’s wisdom literature calls adultery the epitome of foolishness, like an ox led to slaughter who does not know it
Day 46 (Wednesday, August 12) (In the Prophets): Hosea 2:14-20; Malachi 2:13-16 Focus: God as the faithful husband and Israel as the unfaithful spouse; “the LORD, the God of Israel, says that he hates divorce”
Day 47 (Thursday, August 13) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Matthew 5:27-30; John 8:1-11 Focus: Faithfulness begins in how we see others, and Jesus extends mercy to the woman caught in adultery
Day 48 (Friday, August 14) (In the NT Letters): Ephesians 5:25-33; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Focus: Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, and your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
Day 49 (Saturday, August 15): Psalm 51:1-12 Focus: Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within me
Week 7 Reflection: Write the name of one person you find it hard to see as an image-bearer to love rather than use or avoid. Pray for them daily this week, and before Sunday practice one genuine act of care toward them.
Week 8: 8th Commandment, Do Not Steal
Theme: Open Hands in a World That Grasps
📺 Watch: 8th Commandment: Do Not Steal
Day 50 (Sunday, August 16): Exodus 20:15 Focus: “You shall not steal”; taking what belongs to another harms more than the immediate loss
Day 51 (Monday, August 17): Exodus 22:1; Deuteronomy 8:7-18 Focus: Restitution requires five oxen for every one stolen; all that Israel has is God’s gift, not something earned
Day 52 (Tuesday, August 18): Deuteronomy 15:4-5, 7-11 Focus: There should be no poor among you; open-handed generosity is the community posture that makes stealing unnecessary
Day 53 (Wednesday, August 19) (In the Prophets): Amos 8:4-7; Micah 6:10-12 Focus: Those who trample the needy and keep dishonest scales; the LORD will never forget what they have done
Day 54 (Thursday, August 20) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Luke 19:1-10; Matthew 6:19-21 Focus: Zacchaeus repays four times what he stole; store treasure in heaven, not on earth
Day 55 (Friday, August 21) (In the NT Letters): Ephesians 4:28; 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 Focus: The one who once stole should now labor and give freely; equality and generosity as the early church’s answer to scarcity
Day 56 (Saturday, August 22): Psalm 37:16-17, 25-26 Focus: Better is the little that the righteous have than the abundance of the wicked; the righteous are generous and lend freely
Week 8 Reflection: Make one concrete act of generosity this week: give away something you’ve been holding onto, or give to someone in need beyond what feels comfortable. Journal what that act stirred in you.
Week 9: 9th Commandment, Do Not Bear False Witness
Theme: Truth as the Foundation of Justice and Community Trust
📺 Watch: 9th Commandment: Do Not Bear False Witness
Day 57 (Sunday, August 23): Exodus 20:16 Focus: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”; words in a courtroom can take away a family’s land, freedom, or life
Day 58 (Monday, August 24): Deuteronomy 19:15-21; Proverbs 14:25 Focus: No one can be convicted on a single witness; a truthful witness saves lives, and a false one faces the very penalty he sought to impose
Day 59 (Tuesday, August 25): Proverbs 25:18; Proverbs 12:17-22 Focus: A false witness is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow; the LORD detests lying lips but delights in those who tell the truth
Day 60 (Wednesday, August 26) (In the Prophets): Isaiah 59:1-4; Zechariah 8:16-17 Focus: Truth has stumbled in the public square: “speak the truth to one another; render true judgments that make for peace”
Day 61 (Thursday, August 27) (In Jesus’ Teaching): John 8:31-32, 44-45; Matthew 26:59-61 Focus: The truth will set you free, and false witnesses appear at Jesus’ own trial, turning the commandment against its maker
Day 62 (Friday, August 28) (In the NT Letters): Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9-10 Focus: “Put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor”; the new self is renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator
Day 63 (Saturday, August 29): Psalm 15 Focus: Who may dwell on your holy mountain? The one who speaks truth from the heart and does not slander with the tongue
Week 9 Reflection: Before this week ends, have one honest conversation you’ve been avoiding, or go back and correct something you said that wasn’t fully true. Share with a trusted friend what you did and what it cost you.
Week 10: 10th Commandment, Do Not Covet
Theme: The Heart Behind Everything, Good Desire Versus Restless Craving
📺 Watch: 10th Commandment: Do Not Desire Your Neighbor’s Possessions
Day 64 (Sunday, August 30): Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21 Focus: The only commandment aimed entirely at the interior life; notice the subtle difference between khamad and ‘avah, desire and craving
Day 65 (Monday, August 31): Genesis 3:1-6 Focus: The woman saw, the tree was desirable (khamad), she took; the see-desire-take pattern that the 10th commandment is designed to interrupt
Day 66 (Tuesday, September 1): Joshua 7:20-21; 1 Kings 21:1-4 Focus: Achan sees and takes; Ahab covets Naboth’s vineyard. The same pattern, generation after generation, the same ruin
Day 67 (Wednesday, September 2) (In the Prophets): Micah 2:1-2; Isaiah 5:8-10 Focus: Woe to those who covet fields and seize them; woe to those who add house to house until no room is left for anyone else
Day 68 (Thursday, September 3) (In Jesus’ Teaching): Luke 12:13-21; Mark 10:17-22 Focus: The parable of the rich fool; the rich young ruler: what keeps people from the kingdom is often what they cannot stop grasping
Day 69 (Friday, September 4) (In the NT Letters): Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Hebrews 13:5 Focus: The secret of contentment; godliness with contentment is great gain; be free from the love of money, for God will never leave or forsake you
Day 70 (Saturday, September 5): Psalm 23 Focus: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. The 10th commandment’s deepest answer is trust in the God who provides
Week 10 Reflection: Keep a covet journal this week. Each time you notice envy or craving (for someone’s life, recognition, body, or possessions), write it down without judgment. At week’s end, bring the full list to God in prayer and leave it there. Share one entry with a trusted friend.
📺 Conclude Here: The Law Watch this video as you close the journey. It traces the biblical understanding of God’s law from Sinai through the prophets to Jesus and the New Testament, showing how the Ten Words were never meant to be the final word, but a signpost pointing toward the life God always intended His people to live.
Closing Reflection
Return to Exodus 20:1-2 as this journey ends. Notice what comes first: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Everything that follows, all ten words, flows from one prior reality. God acted. He rescued. The commands come after the liberation, not before it. They are not the price of His love; they are the shape of it.
What has meditating on these ten words revealed to you about the God who gave them? The Ten Words are not finished with you yet. They are a lifetime of meditation, returning again and again to the same passages and finding new depths as you grow. As the Bible Project puts it, as you let Scripture interpret itself, something remarkable happens: the Bible starts to read you.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2)
