A New Year in His Word
What kinds of resolutions do you make each year? Some resolutions can be drastic and require big changes and sacrifice in order to fulfill. Others may seem big at the beginning, but are accomplished through small, shorter daily commitments. Reading through the whole Bible in a year is one of the latter. It seems like such an enormous thing to do, but in reality it only takes a few minutes each day to accomplish. Typically when I have my quiet time, I read through different books of the Bible, alternating between Old and New Testaments. This year though, I’m committing to reading through the whole Bible chronologically, which is something that I haven’t done in a couple of years. Because I can sometimes be a very goal-oriented person, and can get caught up in needing to see tangible progress and reaching a finish line,
reading the Bible in this way for me can at times become more of a chore than it is enjoyable. This is why I usually find myself working through one book at a time, instead of following reading plans. This year however, I feel the Holy Spirit urging me to do a chronological plan again, and so that is how I’m going to spend my quiet times each morning. Despite this being hard for me, the times that I have done it have been so rewarding. Reading through the Bible in this way really allows me to notice and see patterns and themes of how God interacts with us, and helps me to understand in a greater way character attributes like His patience and grace. If you haven’t ever read through the entire Bible, I would encourage you to make it a resolution for 2018. You may have noticed that one of the bulletin inserts you’ve gotten during a recent worship service has outlines for a reading plan. This is a great
plan to start with, and allows you to go through the same plan as others in your family or Sunday School class. You can also find others online, or in apps like The Holy Bible, which are free to download on your phone or tablet from the App Store. However you choose to do it, committing to read through the entire Bible this year is a great way to grow in your faith, and is most certainly a worthwhile investment.
