Again this year, one of my goals is to read through the Bible. I've done this a number of different times using various methods; you can read about some of them here: Reading Through the Bible. I mentioned in that post the staggering statistic that only 5% of Christians have ever read the Bible in its entirety. That is so hard to believe, when you consider how important God's Word is and how we are commanded to search the scriptures. For years I was one of the 95% who had not read the Bible through. Finally I came to the place where I set that as a goal for myself. That was many years ago, and now I have read it many times over. Last year I decided not to read through the entire Bible, but just to read through the Gospels repeatedly. I thought it would be a really good reminder to me of how Jesus handled ministry and the problems of and interactions with people. It would have been, too, if I had stuck with it, but for whatever reason on the second or third time through I got bogged down in the book of Luke. So I determined that in 2012 I would read through the entire Bible again. It's been great! I'm using a 52-week plan from Revive Our Hearts which breaks the readings down by genre -- prophecy, poetry, history, etc. It's similar to another plan I've used in the past, but this one is much better organized. Revive Our Hearts offers a number of free Bible reading plans. You can check them out here: Bible Reading Plans. It's still January, not at all too late to jump into reading through God's Word. You will be glad you did!
I was challenged to read through the Bible after reading The Purpose Driven Life and I am reading it through for the fifth time this year. It really gives a Believer the BIG picture! I see so much of Jesus in the Old Testament. I am so thankful for the Saints who preserved the Scripture for us to enjoy today.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Thanks for sharing your heart, Arlene. Reading through the Bible does indeed give us as believers the big picture!
ReplyDelete5%! Eek. That is horrible. I am in the 95. Hmmmm... best change that.I started a 1 year New Testament last week and I am enjoying that a lot. But in 30 years of bible reading I have yet to read the whole thing, sheesh.
ReplyDeleteWell, the 1-year New Testament is a wonderful start! Don't beat yourself up too much, you are a busy mom! Just stick with what you've started and maybe you can read the Old Testament next year. You will find it such a blessing, I'm sure.
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