Sunday Snippet: Resolutions, Reading Plans and a GiveAway…

Isn’t this the time of year when we all renew our efforts to work harder, do better, eat healthier, exercise more… and read our Bible Daily. How often have you told yourself that this will be the year that you read your Bible right the way through. I know that so many years of my childhood were spent reading the first few chapters of Genesis… and by mid January getting lost in “be gots” and “be gats” persevering and occasionally making it all the way to Numbers and then crashing out!!! During my teens I would try bible study notes and they were really blessed little thoughts in a pretty cover… and two or three verses a day to think about. But that wasn’t getting me all the way through the Bible anytime soon!!! That was the story of my “Bible reading life”… a bit of a hit and miss… until I met the father person and he gave me a “One Year Study Bible” and a challenge one Christmas… it was instrumental in getting me to read the Bible all the way through year after year after year…

Reading the Bible through from end to end helps in so many ways… it presents the Bible as a complete unit… you can see the intentions of the Old Testament realised and fulfilled in the New Testament. You can see the story unravel as a complete saga… interconnected and with one purpose… rather than a whole collection of stories randomly packed between the covers.

However, there is something quite daunting about reading the entire Bible, I think because it is difficult for us to imagine reading such a vast collection of writing. As mom’s we often can’t imagine how we would ever get dinner on the table let alone read a chapter of a book… or ever read a book within the Bible… let’s face it: The Bible can seem so overwhelming. But like most overwhelming projects we need to start small… just like dinner often begins with slicing an onion so reading through the entire bible requires us just to open it. And if we really want to read through the Bible in a year, then we have to open our Bibles daily. A little habit of reading a small amount daily can really quickly become a long way to winding our journey through the Bible.

I think the key factor is, discipline. It is a discipline to read through your Bible from end to end… and requires a daily effort… not a huge effort mind you, but a daily effort. The discipline of Bible reading is often left out of writings about quiet time: which can be a time spent with God where you pray and listen for His inspiration – unfortunately that is what we want to hear – not a whole lot of work, just some quiet contemplation. However appealing that may sound, I have to say that that will not get you to read the complete Bible.

There are a number of different and really useful Bible reading plans that you can download and print from Ligonier.org. Find one that you like, print it out and pop it inside the cover of your Bible and just read your way through the readings step by step each day. Finding the right reading plan for you, can really be instrumental in your Bible reading success.

And if you really can’t face reading your way through the entire Bible it has become easier… you can listen to an audible Bible or even a podcast!!! I kid you not… so much easier!!! Take a look at this post from The Gospel Coalition… it has heaps of tips and a variety of ways for you to read through your Bible in a year… and in the first paragraph the post mentions that the average person can probably read through the Bible in ten minutes a day, or listen to the Bible in 12 minutes a day. Even I can find the time for ten minutes a day. And yes I will fail and miss days, but the important thing is not to quit… but to keep at it, despite our failures!!!

To inspire your Daily Bible Reading I have a beautiful ESV Bible, published by Crossway, to GiveAway…

This GiveAway works in the usual way, comment before the end of Sunday, 6 January 2013, and we will draw and publish the winner after that. I won’t respond to your comments as I do on our other posts because I don’t want to be included in our own giveaway.

As usual I have to thank Christian Book Discounters, our GiveAway book suppliers for another great books. Our GiveAways are open to everyone: If you have won a GiveAway before never fear – enter away. If you live on the far side of the world – enter away. Postage takes forever from here but eventually it should get to you! Good luck and get commenting!!!