« The Lead Compass | Main | Sleeping Amidst Flames »
Getting Serious about Bible Reading
By Pastor John Carroll | January 24, 2008
It’s 2008 and January is going fast. In thinking about my spiritual growth, I am always challenged by these words of the prophet Jeremiah:
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name
O Lord, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)
As Jeremiah took in God’s word in the midst of his suffering, he discovered the joy and delight to be found in the promises, warnings and affirmations of Jehovah. It should be no different today. We have the entire Bible, 66 books, given to us by our Heavenly Father for our comfort, direction and encouragement. The Bible is the all time best seller but not necessarily the most read of all books. How do we gain the appetite which Jeremiah had for the Scriptures? In his case, he ate first and then found joy and delight. If faced with the choice of Sports Illustrated or the Bible, our natural tendency may be to pick the former. Only consistent intake will result in the development a hunger for the Word of God which overcomes the fleshly inclination toward the fluffy equivalent of spiritual junk food.
Last year several of us committed to reading through the Bible in 2007. (You can see my previous blogs on the subject in here and here in Dec. 2006]. Feedback revealed that most found this a struggle but some have valiantly recommitted to the project in 2008. I followed the chronological plan and did manage to finish up my reading on New Year’s Eve 2007 at about 11:30 PM. How’s that for a photo finish?
This year I am using the Discipleship Journal reading plan. It calls for 25 readings a month so if you get behind you have a built in way to catch up. You read in two places each day. If you get ahead you can take the extra time to go back and do a little more in depth study on a topic or passage of interest. I got a late start (the second week of January) so I am still catching up. Today I am in Genesis 47 and Psalm 16.
Have you decided to read through the Bible in 2008? Would you like to join an accountability group to help you keep going through the year and share some of the blessings gleaned from this daily discipline? I don’t propose any formal meetings, but just to keep in touch by email and update from time to time about how we are progressing.
If you are interested in being part of such a group, please let me know by emailing me (you can use the Contact Form on the left bottom side of the website to do that) or simply commenting on this blog.
Topics: Accountability |
February 11th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Dear worker of God,
I am pleased with your Bible teaching, I ask to send furhter more Bible materials so that I may know the truth about the God’s word.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Samuel Mwakasungula,
P.o.box 3083,
Mbeya Tanzania