Read Your Bible

Upon this final day of 2014, and as we roll into a new year, I simply wanted to challenge you to read your Bible this year. About 15 Christmases ago, my dad bought me a NKJV Macarthur study Bible, he then told me, “Ben this next year, I want you to read through the whole Bible.” It was an intimidating challenge to a 12 year old who wanted to be the next greatest shortstop of the Colorado Rockies! However, that was one of the most important moment of my life; since then I have read through the Bible almost every year.

We are told in scripture that the Word of the Lord endures forever…as the years roll by fads change, kings and kingdoms are brought high and cast down, celebrities have their fifteen minutes of fame, and we each inevitably fade from history. So, though man is like the flower that fades, the Word of God remains and endures for all eternity. Thus, rather than investing your time this next year in fleeting, failing, and futile pursuits, make the Bible your prime hobby and pastime. David Mathis over at Desiring God had a great post on this same topic and had some great links to resources (they beat me to it, I think they read my mind)! One thing he brought up was if instead of watching TV and movies we devoted the same time to reading the Bible, we’d be through the Bible in four weeks!! I say we could all devote at least that much time to seeking the eternal truths and treasures found in God’s Word.

Man indeed is like a fading flower, but the God-man is the one who has the power of endless life. Let us seek to know Him in His Word, guided by His Spirit, encouraged by His Body, the church. May this new year bring you to more fully treasure Him, and count the things of this world as strangely dim, in light of His surpassing glory and grace! Think about it, if you live to be 80 you will have read through God’s Word dozens of times! That is an investment well worth your while, for it is an investment that has an eternal return!!

My favorite way to read through the Bible is the M’Cheyne reading plan. You read the whole Old Testament once and the Psalms and New Testament twice over the course of the year. It is a great way to immerse yourself in the entirety of the Bible. 

Click here for a PDF of M’Cheyne’s reading plan.

Click here for Blue Letter Bible’s list of reading plans.

Click here for my recent post on William Tyndale, the man who first translated much of the Bible into English!

Click here for a recent devotional on the similarities between God’s Word and honey!