Do you have a plan?

At the last staff and elder's Christmas party

we were asked to briefly share

what God has done in our lives over the past year.

I quickly noticed a common thread:

how God used His Word to change & challenge.

I was struck by how many of these people I respect

cited reading through the Bible in the past year

as a highlight of their year, as something God used in their lives.

Now, before you think that I'm saying you need to do this,

I want to clarify a few things:

Reading through the Bible in a year (or 2)

is not the only way to be in God's Word.

Reading through the Bible in a year

is not commanded anywhere in the Bible

nor will it make you a saint.

Yes, it's definitely worth doing every once in a while,

yes, it has extreme benefits,

but it has it's downsides too.

What I am saying is that I was challenged to do this again.

And my challenge to you is:

pick a way to be in God's Word A LOT this year.

It will change you if you let it.

I've found that goals for being in the Word are more easily reached if you:

1) Have a plan!

If you want to read through the whole Bible,

here are some great plans to choose from:

-The one I plan to use is a chronological plan.

-Here's a great two-year reading plan.

-An easy and very forgiving plan.

This plan is great if you're the type of person

who will easily quit or beat yourself up if you get behind.

There are no definite dates;

just days of the week with chapters to read.

-Or, pick from any of the 10 plans listed here.

The best thing about this link is that you can pick the best format for you:

look at it on the web, subscribe to it by RSS,

podcast and listen to it, download it to your iCal,

view it each day on your mobile device,

or be old-fashioned and print out the plan. ;)

2) Have a partner!

Get someone to help hold you accountable.

Someone you trust.

Someone who will do it too.

3) Have a time and place.

I know it's hard to have a regular time and place

(especially when you have little ones around!)

but habits are more easily formed if you can do this at least most of the time.

I hope that this new year finds us all in God's Word more!

And if you're needing some extra helps for how to read God's Word,

both of these books would be worth your while:

Read the Bible for Life

by George Guthrie

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

by Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart