Why Read Through the Bible in a Year

John 1:1 – "In the kickoff was the Give-and-take, and the Discussion was with God, and the Word was God."

As a teenager growing up in a very bourgeois, independent, Baptist church building, I was ofttimes challenged to make a commitment at the terminate of the year to read my Bible through. I knew the importance of God's Word, and I was a laic, and so every year I would brand this commitment in my heart. Like many people reading this article, I started out with enthusiasm. As a person who loves to "check off the boxes," my legalistic soul relished each time I read the portion of Scripture assigned to the day and could affirm my faithfulness to God past that petty crimson check mark.

Sadly, around the time I got to Leviticus and Numbers, my enthusiasm waned and inevitably my reading would grow more and more sporadic. Feeling similar I could never "catch up," I ofttimes abandoned it entirely. After all, if I couldn't do it perfectly, why carp?

That's why this article may take a unlike plow than you lot expect. I nonetheless love to cheque off the boxes, and I still firmly believe that every Christ-follower ought to be spending time in God's Give-and-take daily. But unless nosotros get beyond the legalistic formula and "Bible-reading plans," it won't last until Spring. The real, lasting, and effective central to regular reading and studying of God's Word comes from understanding what a treasure it is, and the power information technology has on our lives.

At the finish of this commodity, I volition share a few applied tips, but more chiefly I desire to encourage you with the reasons whyand howwe must approach our Bibles. Later all, every bit John reminds u.s., it is the very Word of God – Jesus revealed to us.

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i. Read Confidently

2 Timothy three:14-xv – "You, nevertheless, continue in the things you take learned and get convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you accept known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

End listening to the mockers that tell you to doubt the validity, inerrancy, and truth of the Bible. Timothy was a young human being who saturday at his grandmother's knee, listening to her stories of the faithfulness of God and the truthfulness of His Word. Paul encouraged him to take that same kind of awe and respect that he had as a child, for after all, the wisdom from the sacred writings had brought him salvation.

If you are a Christ-follower, you are a living, animate example of God's Word. Read it confidently, fifty-fifty when you encounter things you don't sympathise. Trust that God has preserved it for this generation, and that His Word volition stand up forever, long after the scoffers have been silenced.

Colossians two:2-iii,eight – "That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in dearest, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of agreement, resulting in a truthful knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. … Meet to it that no ane takes you captive through philosophy and empty charade, according to the tradition of men, co-ordinate to the elementary principles of the world, rather than co-ordinate to Christ."

Proverbs xxx:five – "Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."

Isaiah twoscore:eight – "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."

Encounter also: ane Corinthians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; ane Peter ane:23-25

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two. Read Purposefully

Hebrews 4:12 – "For the give-and-take of God is living and agile and sharper than whatsoever ii-edged sword, and piercing even as far every bit the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to approximate the thoughts and intentions of the eye."

Don't be like I was equally a teenager, reading simply to cheque off the boxes and do your "duty" to God. Read with purpose. God's Word is living, active and powerful.

Accept you ever read a poetry and it "cuts to the quick of your soul" as though God were speaking to you personally? That is the ability of the Discussion. Information technology accomplishes God's purpose in our lives: to know Him, to obey Him, and to exist transformed by Him.

God's Word allows us to know Him; it is the fashion He reveals Himself to us. We learn His character, His divine attributes, and His thoughts and purposes for humanity. Jesus is the Word, come up to explain God to us.

John 1:eighteen – "No 1 has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bust of the Begetter, He has explained Him."

John 5:39 – "You lot search the Scriptures because you lot think that in them you have eternal life; information technology is these that evidence about Me."

God's Word teaches u.s.a. how to obey Him. We don't accept to gauge about what'southward right or wrong. The Give-and-take teaches u.s.a., corrects united states, and trains usa so that we can live God-honoring lives.

ii Timothy 3:16 – "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the human being of God may be adequate, equipped for every skillful work."

God's Word transforms us. As we read, He changes our thought patterns to adjust to His image, not to the world. It exposes wrong thinking and shows us the will of God.

Romans 12:two – "And do not be conformed to this earth, but be transformed by the renewing of your listen, and so that y'all may prove what the will of God is, that which is practiced and acceptable and perfect."

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3. Read Humbly

two Peter one:xx – "Just know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made past an act of human will, only men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

Never approach God with a preconceived thought that you know more Him. God's Word is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. Many well-meaning theologians take gone off-target past trying to dissect God's Word and brand it acceptable to culture. Don't endeavor to "work effectually" the difficult things. Take God's Discussion as truth and adjust your life to it. Trust it by organized religion, even if your human logic disagrees.

2 Peter iii:16 – "As also in all [Paul'southward] messages, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things difficult to sympathise, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do too the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."

Matthew 22:29 – "Just Jesus answered and said to them, 'Yous are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.'"

Deuteronomy 29:29 – "The undercover things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to the states and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."

4. Read Prayerfully

John 14:26 – "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach yous all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

Speaking of "things hard to sympathise," without the Holy Spirit enlightening our minds, we cannot comprehend the truth of the Bible. God must open our spiritual eyes and enlighten the states to receive spiritual things. We ought to pray with our Bibles open, considering the Spirit of God speaks through the Word of God to reveal the will of God. Every time you open up God'southward Word, take time to pray and ask God to speak.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 – "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, only the Spirit who is from God, then that we may know the things freely given to united states past God, which things we too speak, not in words taught by homo wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot sympathise them, considering they are spiritually appraised."

Luke 24:44-45 – "At present He said to them, 'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you lot, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' So He opened their minds to empathize the Scriptures."

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5. Read Diligently

two Timothy 2:15 – "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

God's Word is fabricated upward of 66 books written over a menstruum of 4,000 years, nevertheless it'due south one consummate story. Isn't it amazing that our story began in a garden where the Tree of Life grew, (Genesis 2:15) and for those who accept Christ past faith, it will end in the new heaven and globe where the Tree of Life will still exist blooming (Revelation 22:2)? If we approach the Bible haphazardly, we will miss so much of its wisdom and meaning. Determine to read faithfully and diligently, twelvemonth after twelvemonth, and God will open up the treasure firm to you.

Acts 17:xi – "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the discussion with bang-up eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were and so."

Revelation 1:3 – "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."

Matthew four:4 – "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Human shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the oral cavity of God.'"

half dozen. Read Practically

Colossians 3:sixteen – "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing 1 another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

To let God's Word "richly dwell" in us is to allow it to "inhabit abundantly." It takes upward residence in our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, our feelings, and our emotions. That kind of influence tin't happen sporadically or by chance. If nosotros want God's Word to do its work in us, if we want to know God personally and intimately, if we want to attain the proficient works He has called usa to for His kingdom's sake – we must take applied steps to dwell in God'south Word. Nosotros need to choose a program, a identify, and a indicate in time.

You can find all kinds of plans on the spider web. Start here. Y'all can fifty-fifty create your own plan hither. For an even easier option, cull a Bible that is already formatted for daily reading, similar ane of these.

Once you settle on your plan, find a identify in your dwelling that is conducive to quiet reflection, and denote to your family that to the all-time of your ability, at a certain fourth dimension each twenty-four hours you will be "off limits" as y'all meet with God in His Word. Non but does this give y'all the liberty to take that fourth dimension, but information technology will also offer some accountability when your ten-year-onetime asks, "Aren't you supposed to be reading the Bible right at present?"

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7. Read Intentionally

Romans 15:4 – "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our didactics, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures nosotros might have hope."

Yous might think if you don't accept time for an intensive, in-depth study, that simply reading through the Bible isn't worthwhile. That's non true. By asking a few questions of each passage you read, yous can proceeds a lot of noesis and begin to feel the supernatural life-change the Bible promises to those who alive by information technology. After each day's reading, answer the following:

Observation: What does the passage say?

Estimation: What does the passage mean?

Application: What is my response to the passage?

You'll be amazed at what you glean from God'south Word! As you abound in faith and cognition, God's Discussion volition richly dwellin you, and you lot'll never go back to simply checking off the boxes again!

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Click here for Bible Study Tools gratis Bible reading plans.

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Author Sheila Alewine is a pastor's married woman, mother, and grandmother of five. She and her husband lead Around The Corner Ministries, which serves to equip Christ-followers to share the gospel where they live, work and play. She has written several devotionals includingJust Pray: God'south Not Done With You Yet, Grace & Celebrity: 50 Days in the Purpose & Plan of God, and her newest one, Open The Gift, as well every bitGoing Around The Corner, a Bible report for pocket-size groups who desire to reach their communities for Christ. Their ministry as well offers disciple-making resources likeOne-To-One Disciple-Making in partnership with Multiplication Ministries. Sheila has a passion for God'south Word and shares what God is teaching her on her blog, The Way of The Word. Connect with her on her web log, Facebook, and Instagram.

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