Following my posting from yesterday: Read The Whole Bible in 2011 I came across an interesting piece on the Gospel Coalition website entitled Two Year Bible Reading Plan.
Stephen Witmer gives some good reasons why he believes this two year Bible reading plan is better than many of the one year ones. Have a read and see what you think.
The actual two year Bible reading plan can be found here.
Have you ever read the Bible all the way through in a year? If not why not make that your goal for 2011? It might seem like an impossible goal but it only actually requires 20 minutes a day to read through the whole Bible in a year. Yes that’s less time then we spend in front of the TV set or on the internet each day!
However where do you begin if you want to read through the Bible in 2011? I have listed below three possible options that are available should you decide to do this:
If you want any further information on the many Bible reading plans that are available then YouVersion provides a comphrensive listing of many other options that are available.
So why not take up the challenge and read the whole Bible in 2011? It will be worth it!
Last night in housegroups one of the passages that we looked at was Psalm 19:7-11 and we spent some time discussing verse 10.
David here describes the Law of the Lord as being “more precious than gold.” This is a challenging thought especially when you think that he did not have the whole bible like we do. In fact he may well have only had the first four books of the bible.
Some of these passages we find a bit dry and difficult yet to David they were precious and worth more than gold. I’m reminded of believers in countries where it is illegal to have a bible. I’ve read stories of these believers taking all sorts of risks just to acquire one. They risk imprisonment yet the bible is so precious to them that they are prepared to risk their all to obtain a portion of scripture.
Most of us no doubt have many different translations at home and if we visit Bible Gateway we have access to numerous versions.
I guess if we are being honest we would find it difficult to honestly say with David that God’s word is “more precious than gold.” We need to ask God to give us that hunger for His word so that it might become fresh and exciting to us too.
Last night whilst looking at some Christian websites I came across the lyrics to the classic hymn written in 1664 by Samuel Crossman called “My Friend Indeed.” The final two lines of this hymn are:
“This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend”
This got me thinking as recently I have struggled with my Bible reading and prayer times. It seems to be so much easier either to watch TV or go on Twitter or generally surf the net. Yet the writer of the hymn speaks of how he could gladly (note not reluctantly or because I ought to, but gladly) spend time with his Friend. Could I honestly say that? And if not why not?
Now I know that “the flesh is weak but the spirit is willing” and that we face spiritual battles when praying and reading Scripture. However I want to know the joy of this as opposed to it being stale and routine. Not the “I must read my Bible, I must pray” sort of thinking but the joy of being with Christ.
Interestingly I also then came across the following Spurgeon quote on GraceQuotes:
“I bear my testimony that there is no joy to be found in all this world like that of sweet communion with Christ. ~ C.H. Spurgeon”
The song “What a Wonderful Saviour” has been in mind today and my prayer is that I might know that wonder afresh and the joy of spending time in communion with Christ.
Yesterday was Bible Sunday and we were reminded during the sermon of the importance of reading the Scriptures. It is essential for our growth as Christians that we spend time reading God’s word.
We read the Bible to get to know God better, to hear his voice through it and to be changed by His words. All of us need to change and so all of us have a need to read it.
There are some passages that are difficult to understand and so it is good to meet together with fellow Christians in a housegroup or Bible study group to discuss the Scriptures together. This helps us to grow together.
In Romans 15:4 Paul, who was actually speaking of the Old Testament, gives us the following four benefits in reading the Scriptures:
So let us ensure that we keep on reading and allow God to keep on changing us.
Yesterday the sermon we heard was taken from Luke 16:19-31 which is about the Rich Man and Lazarus.
One point that struck me from the message was that God gives us warnings from His Word and it is important that we heed these warnings. Sadly in this story it seemed that the rich man knew his brothers would not heed the warnings from the Scriptures.
“Father help us always to heed the warnings from your Word and obey them wholeheartedly”
Whenever I switch on my computer at home one of the first things I do is to update my Internet Security software with the latest virus definitions that have been released. I have also just received a reminder from Adobe that my Flash Player needs updating, which I did. Additionally I received notification that the latest Windows Updates needed to be installed too!
I expect that at some stage whilst I’m on the web I will get told by Firefox that there are some new releases of the various plug-ins that I use which I need to download and install. I might even find that Firefox have released an updated version of their browser which upgrades itself automatically. And finally if I decide to use my email software I could find that it is automatically upgrading itself.
Any computer security expert will tell you that it’s essential to ensure that you do all of the above if you want to keep your PC protected. And whilst I 100% agree with that to be honest it can be very time consuming, especially when your computer starts to get older and slower. However it is certainly worth investing the time.
I wonder though do we put as much time and effect into protecting our souls as we do our computers? Do we consider prayer, Bible reading, worshipping God, confessing our sins and attending church to be important activities or do we only do them if we have the time or feel like it? They need to be disciplines that we all undertake daily.
I would never neglect or undervalue the importance of protecting my computer but to my shame I have not always shown the same commitment to protecting my soul.
“Dear Lord help us to see the importance of protecting our souls and to never neglect spending time in your presence. Amen”
The trials of Biblical Studies is a chapter in a book called “The Trials of Theology: Becoming a ‘Proven Worker’ in a Dangerous Business.”
This chapter is written by D A Carson and in it he looks at the following five areas that students in biblical studies must address:
Andy Naselli has written some bullet points on each heading. I particularly was interested in the comment that Andy makes that we should not separate technical and devotional Bible study. I myself am currently studying a theology course, by distance learning, and I think I need to bear that in mind.
The whole chapter can be read online – The trials of Biblical Studies.
Have you eaten yet today? If not presumably you will at some stage eat today. To go through a whole day without eating is not something we would normally consider, unless we are fasting! We all need to eat and feed ourselves each day to give our body the physical strength it needs to function.
But have you had any spiritual food yet today? Just as we need physical food to sustain us each day we also need spiritual food too. In fact spiritual food is more important for us than actual physical food.
Let us determine then that each day we will feed ourselves with God’s word – the Bible – and eat as much of it as we can. Unlike physical food we can never have too much of this food.
It’s not just Christians who are called to “full time” work for God that need feeding every day. You and I also need spiritual food every day!
Did you decide to read through the Bible in 2010?
Maybe you did but for some reason you just did not get started. Or perhaps you have already missed some readings and are feeling like giving up?
Well David Mathis says “It’s not too late to read through the Bible” and gives six good options that are available if you still wish to do this. So don’t give up you can still do it!