And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age," Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20, NKJV

This message was spoken to Jesus' disciples upon His having risen from the dead. Just three days after the worst day of His disciples lives, after they had all witnessed Him dying a cruel death on the cross, these same apostles are now experiencing the best day of their life, for He arose! Now Jesus is giving what many have referred to as the Great Commission, with the Good News that all men can become followers of Christ if they will be baptized into His name and obey His teaching.

It's the obedience to His teaching that is the focal point of this 260 day study that will take us through the entire New Testament, one day at a time. It is the reason that we are encouraged not just to read the Word, but to take time each day to contemplate the meaning of the Word. Too many people just aimlessly wander throughout life without ever discovering that God has a plan for not only their physical lives, but especially for their eternity, if they will but obey.

This command to, "teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you", is the key to service for all those who will love Jesus enough to become His disciples. We cannot possibly observe all things that He has commanded, unless we have read all things that He has commanded. And once having read His commands, we then have the obligation to think deeply as to what they mean so that we can correctly apply them to our lives and live as disciples should.

This is indeed why we are reading!

Today's reading is Matthew 28, and it tells us all about the best day in the history of mankind, and how we are to respond to the call to become disciples of Christ.