January 9, 2009

Bible-in-1-year plan..

I gotta tell you... I'm enjoying reading my Bible.

I have always thought about reading the WHOLE Bible.. All of it. Every word of it.
And I will start in Genesis 1, go through the Creation Story, The flood, Abraham's life, Isaac marrying Rebekah, Jacob puling that sneaky stunt on his brother Esau, and Joseph's life amazed me.
I mean, these stories were the stories that were told to me when I was in Sunday School so it was easier for me to read the book of Genesis.
So, I went to Exodus, it was good too. Moses and his adventures with the Pharaoh. I mean, come on... so "Prince Of Egypt", you know.

But whenever I got to the book of Numbers, I lost it. The first few chapters were good, but when it started talking about "Laws of this" and "Laws of that" OK man.... I put my bible down and pick up a book on practical ministry instead.

I know, I know... I am very bad and evil for doing that.. Hehe.
Then I would start to read the Gospels in the New Testament, some of Paul's letters, but never got around to reading books like Jeremiah, Isaiah and the "little" prophets, the one that no one talks about like Nahum, Hosea, Habakkuk (Huh?). Yeeeaaaa.

But see, I love God's word, man.
It convicts me when I'm in sin.
It lifts me up when I don't have any strength.
It humbles me when I get cocky.
It points me to the cross all the time.
It shows me His redemptive ways all over the Bible.
I love it!

So, for one of my New Years Resolution, I once again decided to read the whole Bible.
Will you keep me accountable?

I went to John Piper's website and downloaded the Bible Reading Plan that they use at their church.
And this time, I am certain that I will make it!
Why?

Well, let me tell you why.
There are a couple of reasons why I see that this plan will work.
Here they are, adapted form John Piper's website:

-You get to read short passages every day.
-You get to read from 4 separate places in the Bible every day. Meaning that, you wont be stuck on the boring Laws in Leviticus (sorry God, I know there is a purpose for them being there), but you will be reading a portion from the Gospels, a portion from Leviticus and a portion of Psalms and a portion of Paul's letters in one day.
-It seems like a lot, but it would only take you around 30 minutes a day.

-"To prevent the frustration of falling behind, which most of us tend to do when following a Bible reading plan, each month of this plan gives you only 25 readings.
Since you'll have several "free days" each month, you could set aside Sunday to either not read at all or to catch up on any readings you may have missed in the past week."

-If you finish the month's readings by the 25th, you could use the final days of the month to study passages that challenged or intrigued you.

Join me in this journey.
Read the Bible with me...
I heard its good for the soul. Hehe.