A new year is arriving. 2020 has been a very difficult year. 2021 may well be too. The critical question is – will we come through this dark period more in love with Christ, more enthralled with His Person and more pliable and malleable in His hands?

Start the New Year right. Prepare your heart spiritually and your mind psychologically to commit to the regular, consistent and consecutive daily reading of your Bible. Do you think, with God’s help you could improve your intentional devotional practices in 2021?

This is not a new Bible Bite, as some regular readers may recognize. Consider it an annual reminder.

We value the importance of plans, routines, and schedules in every other sphere of our life if we intend to move forward, accomplish goals and to make progress. Why is it, in the most critical aspect of our lives, we think we can wing it? Read a bit here and there – sporadically with inconsistent spurts of prayer and hope we can cruise on autopilot based on what we have spiritually enjoyed in the past? Why? If we short-change anything – it’s not our employment, or our games or our relaxation activities – it’s usually, with a sigh of helplessness or inevitability – that we say: “Things are way too hectic to focus on reading my Bible this morning.”

If I am only reading my Bible two or three times a week, I am kidding myself about my intense love for the Lord. And, no – I am not prospering spiritually. If mostly, I am just listening on my device to a chapter being read to me each day, I may be sweetly soothing my conscience but very little else may be happening.

There is no substitute for reading your Bible diligently, daily and consistently. We need a daily intake of spiritual food if we are going to thrive spiritually for the Lord.

I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of Your mouth. In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Psalm 119:11-16

You can find many Bible Reading plans online. Make sure you choose one that is balanced. Make sure the one you choose has at least one reading every day in the New Testament.  At this link, you will find three such plans I have uploaded to scribd.com for your viewing.

Print out the Plan you choose and keep it in your Bible. Remember – it is not the quantity you read – it’s the quality of your reading and how you process the verses and meditate on them.  Far better to read five verses that sink deeply into your heart for the day, than five chapters at a speed-reading skimming pace.

Are you afraid to start following a Bible Reading Schedule in case you miss a day or two here and there? Are you afraid to commit to a schedule in case you can’t follow it? You don’t like New Year’s Resolutions – because you can’t keep them?  What do you have to lose? Let’s say you followed the plan until March, and then you got off track with the schedule…. what have you lost by following it in January, February and March? Nothing!!  Go for it! Try it!

TIPS for EFFECTIVE BIBLE READING:

1 – Before you read, pause to confess your sins to the Lord and ask Him to speak to your heart as you read His Word. Keep a journal.

2 – Try to discipline yourself to record at least two sentences each day about what you read. So many find it helpful to actually formulate the written sentence(s) into a prayer.

3 – Read prayerfully. As you read, pause at certain verses or phrases and speak with your Lord about what the verse means and how it might pertain to your own life.

4 – Block out a 30-minute time slot that is most likely to be convenient for you to read your Bible – the same time every day. Even if you have to set your alarm clock earlier – go for it. Rigour and discipline are required. Satan will never hand you extra time on his silver platter to read your Bible. If you are going to read your Bible, you will have to intentionally take the time.

5 – If you miss a day every now and then, don’t try to go back and catch up. You’ll find that too difficult and discouraging. If you have lost a day or a week because of extraordinary events in your life, just get back on schedule and read only where the Plan states you should read for that day. You can read the missed chapters next year if the Lord spares you.

6 – If you have completed all your readings for the day and you are about to close your Bible without enjoying anything, force yourself to select one verse and mull it over in your mind for a few minutes and pray.

7 – Get at least one other friend to adopt the same plan and then challenge each other with the Lord’s help to follow the Plan.

8 – Your daily reading, based on a schedule, is the minimum. Each of us should also spend time ‘studying’ the Word of God each day.

Finally, may you and yours be drawn closer to the Lord throughout 2021.

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ,

Peter Ramsay

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