I’ve said many times that reading the Bible is the greatest thing you can do to advance your spiritual maturity. Today I have to tell you a story about why this is the case.

I have a theological pet peeve. It’s a topic that I’m opinionated on, but where I differ from many of the Christians around me – including my own pastor. It has to do with how God makes covenants in the Bible, and who me makes them with.

One day I will probably write a book about it and fully develop my argument and lay out my position. But for now, will you accept that it’s something I can become hyper focused on?

It is.

In fact, when I read my Bible, every time the term “covenant” is used, I tell myself that one of these years, I’ll get out a highlighter and mark it so that I can have a handy-dandy references for a systematic study. One of these years I’ll do just that.

You might think that after a year or two, reading through the Bible would get old.  I’ve gone cover to cover many times, but each time I find something startling in the text.

Back to my pet peeve.  One of the most challenging verses is 1 Corinthians 11:25 where Jesus in the last supper says…

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

I think every time I’ve taken communion (certainly for the last 10+ years) this passage has been read.  And I think about it every time.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Imagine my surprise when reading through Exodus a few days ago I came across this phrase:

“Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:8)

Holy cow! Jesus wasn’t making it up when He said it in the upper room.  He was quoting (or at least paraphrasing) what Moses said when installing the covenant of Law with the people.

The gross bit is that when he said that, Moses was flinging the blood out over all the people who gathered for this ceremony.

I almost fell out of my chair while reading my Bible! For being a covenant hobbyist, that rocked me to my core. I don’t know how many times I’ve read that passage. But I never connected the words to 1 Corinthians 11. And on a topic that I care deeply about.

It’s not too late for you to start reading your Bible this year. I encourage you to get a plan and start wherever it says you should be. In a few days, you’ll be right in the flow.

You can find out more about my recommended system (the One Year Bible) here on my website: https://www.dennis-stevenson.com/resources/oneyearbible/.  Or pick one of your own. But the main thing is to simply read God’s word.

You have no idea what you’ll discover (this year, or the next year or the year after that…).

Dennis

P.S. This last week I ran a sale on the ebook edition of Getting to Know God’s Word.  I knocked more than 50% off the price. I haven’t put the price back up yet, but if you’ll take action in the next 2 days I’ll wait that long before putting the price back up to it’s normal price.

Getting to Know God’s Word is an invaluable companion to reading the Bible. It walks through the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and shows how all the books connect into the greater message of the Bible and how you should look at them and make sense of them. If you’re going to read the Bible this year, this is one book I would absolutely recommend you have in your personal library to get the most out of your investment.