On Reading Through the WHOLE Bible

Yesterday’s blog post from King’s Meadow Study Center reminded me how often Christians set out reading through the Bible at the beginning of the year, only to find themselves mysteriously losing steam by the end of February, first of March. This “losing steam” often happens around the time Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy become a regular part of the daily intake. Curious, isn't it?

Now, I don’t have to convince you that enormous spiritual benefits await those who make their way through the Scriptures in a year. After all, the Scripture is God’s very Word; it is one of God's chief ways of revealing Himself and communing with His people. Nevertheless, fewer and fewer Christians enjoy this immense benefit it seems. In fact, I meet Christians almost every week that have never read through the entirety of Scripture and are not making any plans to do so… Is this true of you I wonder?

It’s not too late to make the commitment, to choose to open God’s Word everyday in 2008 and prayerfully consider how God’s Word might teach, reprove, correct, and train you for righteousness, so that you--yes, you!-- might be competent and equipped for every good work.

Still not sure? Ask a friend to join you on the journey. Difficult tasks need the accountablity and encouragement of others. It's why God gives us the Church. Plus, reading the Scripture with friends provides opportunities for gospel fellowship, to share with one another all that the Lord is teaching you.

So, what are you waiting for? Start today!

"I know not a better rule of reading the Scripture than to read through from beginning to end, and when we have finished it once, to begin it again. We shall meet with many passages which we can make little improvement [i.e. of which we might glean little benefit], but not so many in the second reading as in the first, and fewer in the third than in the second—provided we pray to him who has the keys to open our understandings, and to anoint our eyes with his spiritual ointment.”
—John Newton (“On Reading the Bible”)