We have only done our duty

Luke
Check out Luke 17:1-10, particularly the last few verses.  Jesus is basically talking about humility.  He says that when servants do what they're told, they shouldn't expect praise and rewards; they're just doing their job.  Likewise, if we do what God has commanded, we shouldn't feel more important or worthy of a prize; we're just doing our job!
Trying to fulfill our duties or supposedly working beyond what God has called us to do (which is impossible, since he called us to perfection) won't get us anyway - for it is through grace and faith we are saved, not through our own deeds, so we really can't boast about anything.  Sometimes it's still easy to fall back into that mentality that if we just do what God told us to do, we'll be okay.  In one sense that's an acceptable attitude, but once we turn it into a task list of sorts, hoping to curry to God's favour, we've really lost the point.  Doing what he wants us to do won't make Him love us less or more; but it'll help us love Him more, especially if we don't get a big head about it.

Consider others better than yourself

Philippians
Phil 2:3 - "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
There's not much to add to this verse; it pretty much says it for itself - we've got to get rid of self!  That's tough to do; for some reason, we were hardwired to love ourselves a lot, and it takes a lot of work sometimes to put other people ahead.  I'm going to work on that today!

Stephen the martyr

This is a picture of Stephen being martyred (a bit ahead of today's scripture reading).  I can see how the Sanhedrin (court of Jewish judges) were up in arms over Stephen and his testimony before them.  Here was a Greek Jew, having grown up outside of Palestine, teaching these judges about Jewish history and how it points to Jesus being the Christ.  It's always a bit humiliating (if we let it) when we claim to be experts on a topic, but someone else comes along and provides a different point of view that holds up under scrutiny.  There are a number of ways that we could react.  We could get angry, like the Sanhedrin, and shun this person and his new ideas (or go to the extreme and actually kill him...), or we could lose our pride and, with a humble spirit, listen to what they have to say.  I think we know what the better option is - conducting ourselves with integrity and humility.  So, let's go out and do it!

Humble yourself

Humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up.  That's often where we stop reading that verse.  Be humble, and we'll be raised up!  Except we're missing a vital part of that verse.  In due time.  When you've grown from the experience, God will lift you up.  Perhaps even after you've matured a little bit, and really understand what it means to be humble, you'll be lifted up, as Peter was speaking to the young men at this point.  The main point, however, is that we be humble.

Humble and contrite

Key verses
Hebrews 13:20-21 - May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.

Isaiah
God saves his people.  This is evident in Isaiah's narrative.  Although they were sinful and had to be punished, God did rescue them and bring them out of the pit into the light of his blessing.

Even when sacrifices were required by Jewish law, they weren't an excuse for sin.  Isaiah 66:2 explains that what God desires most is someone who follows him, who is "humble and contrite in spirit".  Sacrifices were still necessary to cover for the sin that was still committed, but sacrifices on their own, without a real commitment to a right way of living, were not enough.

Humble yourself

This is it!  What have I discovered on day one of reading the entire bible?  A lot, so it would seem.  It's going to be difficult to keep my thoughts to a manageable length.  There's so much to be learned from God's word!  It's helpful to have a study bible to work through that will give you some context as to what a particular passage is talking about, or even provide cross-references that can point you to other passages in the bible that talk about the same issue.  I am using the Archaeological Study Bible (I am a history nerd), which uses the NIV (New International Version) translation.  Even if your bible does not contain these handy tools, you can find them online in a number of places.  My favourite bible website is bible.cc.  This website has numerous translations - even ones in different languages - as well as commentaries, maps, articles, and superb cross-referencing.

Key verses:
Luke 20:38 - He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.

Isaiah 2:22 - Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.  Of what account is he?

Luke 20:27-40
One of the first things I wondered about when reading this passage was why have this crazy law making this woman marry a bunch of different men??  I found out that the levirate law originated from the patriarchal period and was fairly common among a variety of cultures in that day.  This law was so important because the need to procreate and continue the family line was necessary when a nation's population was so small.  Israel was in such a situation in Genesis and Exodus because it was still a young nation.  Thus, if a woman didn't produce offspring through one man before he died, then another man (usually the husband's brother) would take his place.  Moreover, a childless widow was basically a write-off in the ancient days because no one was around to care for her.

Jesus' answer to the Sadducees required a bit of thinking.  Here is my conclusion: "that age" in verse 35 seems to be referencing God's kingdom to come.  When that time comes, we'll know what the marriage relationship is trying to portray and we won't need to take part in that relationship with one specific person.  Rather, we'll all be in intimate relationship with each other.  Each of our love relationships here on earth represent one facet of the love God feels for each one of us.  Parent-child, husband-wife, brother-sister, they all mirror some part of the larger whole that God has planned for us.

In the face of the Sadducees' non-belief in life after death, Jesus stressed the importance and truth about eternal life through him.

Hebrews 1:1-9
This passage clearly asserted Christ's authority over the angels.  Many Jews in the New Testament age and before then believed in the supremacy and importance of angels.  The author needed to debunk this myth by illustrating, through the Old Testament scriptures, that Jesus was God's Son, and as such, was on God's level in terms of authority.
A note here on the use of OT scriptures:
Apparently, the most common Old Testament translation these days is based off the Masoretic text, but the New Testament writers were most familiar with the early Greek translation called the Septuagint, and therefore quoted passages from that version.  Thus, when we see an OT passage quoted in the NT, and then look back and find it worded differently, this is because our OT is based on a different translation than the NT references.  I was curious about this because Hebrews 1:7 says "He makes his angels winds and his servants flames of fire".  The passage that this comes from is Psalm 104:4 which says "He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants".  The emphasis is placed on opposing parts of the phrases.

Proverbs 18
I resonated with nearly every proverb in this chapter.  I will make note of just one.  Verse 17: "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him."  Keep me humble, people, and make your comments!

Isaiah 1-2
Isaiah, the prophet, gave his message to the people of Judah when it was about to be destroyed.  Everyone was doomed because of their sin.  Isaiah seems to focus on the people's sin and imminent destruction.  However, he also brings a message of hope and restoration by focusing on the coming of the renewed Mt. Zion, God's holy hill.

Life application
From today's reading, I have learned some things that I can apply to my own life.  The main lesson is, don't get too proud, because eventually you'll be brought down!  God is ultimately the one who will be exalted so we should really just honour and glorify him now and get the most out of our relationship by doing so.  We were made to worship God.  We just fight that sometimes.