Get Your Nose in the Book [Bible Reading]

Psalm 1 says that God blesses the man who steers clear of the was of the wicked and swerves into His Word, meditating on it day and night.

In the spirit of opening up the possibilities for your own devotional bible reading, I wanted to share some resources that might help you develop the habit of reading God's Word.

We are called to be workmen who are devoted to the Word, accurately handling it so that we will not be ashamed. A primary way we accomplish this is to READ God's Word. We must be in it if we expect to KNOW it and OBEY it.

Ask yourself:

• Do you have a plan to read God's Word?
• Have you set a time to read God's Word?
• Have you set a place to read God's Word?

If not, and if you're anything like me, then you won't! Let me encourage you to invest the time... take 20 minutes before basketball starts this afternoon, and find a place. Put your bible there. Put a pad and pen there. Make sure there is a light if you are going to be reading in the morning... and then plan to be there to read. Here are some plans to get you started:

• I appreciate the list of plans assembled at this website. Which one is the right one? I'd say any one which gets you into the Word. New to the bible? Check out this one. Never read through the bible? How about this one. Looking for something new? Stories you've never read? Right here. Eager to spend some time with Jesus? Right here.
  

• We're counting down the days until we celebrate the Lord's Resurrection. Why not read the Gospel accounts of His final week? Some members of our church are going to be studying this in their small group... they might find the harmonized accounts of Jesus final week (which i put together in 2006) helpful for study. Jesus Final Week

• Another plan I am experimenting with allows you to read as much as you want per day, as long as you read the whole section in a week. This is a mighty goal, not for the faint of heart. More details on how to use this plan are here. Weekly "Chunks" Plan

• For years I've used Robert M'Cheyne's plan, but it can be a merciless taskmaster if you allow yourself to feel the guilt of missed readings. The plan has you read in four places each day, and takes you through the whole bible in one year. I like it because it challenges me to read all over the place. Preaching and reading on this plan allows a pastor to make 'mad connections' as he reads through the Bible. It all fits together... if we read it, we'll see it. The author himself describes how to use it here.

• I am once again using my own bible reading plan, connected with another that lets me read through the NT twice in one year. Figuring this out is pretty easy. This plan gets you through the NT twice, with all the other readings. I ran this off, cut it nice and small, and am planning on ignoring columns 1 and 2 and reading from column 3. I also print one of these off and stuff it in the front of my bible. It's not really patented or trademarked. I just wrote that to be funny... I cross off the chapters as I read them, and so I know which areas of the Bible I am neglecting.
  

Finally: Read. Read some more. Pray and ask God to help you understand what you are reading. My pastoral mentor used to say that "a man makes time for what is important to him..." If God is your treasure, then you should express that with your time in a solid commitment to be in His Word. May we all be devoted to His "law", so we will stand in joy and awe before Him on that last day.

Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

"Do you understand what you are reading?"

An important question, asked by Philip in his conversation with the Ethiopian Eunuch.

"How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" was the response.

I often find myself falling into browsing mode when reading the Bible. I try to get through it each year, but often I find I'm not thorough, or I'm not connecting to what I'm reading.

Here are two resources I find helpful:

1. A reading plan (for being thorough). I like the discipleship journal reading plan, but I also like the daily reading plan found here, and this is also a good site for reading plans. This year i've tried to solve the problem of losing my reading plan sheet by reducing it in size so it tucks in my Bible, and securing it with a rubber band. How can I keep track of what I read if I keep losing my reading record? I've thought about making a log for Google Docs, but I don't want to need to connect to the Internet to know what I am supposed to be reading, and keeping it updated will be simpler this way.

2. A good outline (for staying connected). Having a good bible commentary helps, but a simple outline of what is going on can also help. The first chapters of Jeremiah are downright confusing without a guide. A simple map can make all the difference. I appreciate these resources from Bethel prof Dr. Paul Ferris to make reading the prophets a little simpler. I'm looking for more... and I'll post some if I find them.