Warning… this email may point out some areas in your life that need attention and cause you to take action to grow spiritually.
Here’s a little story that happened to me last month.
I traveled to Washington State to visit my parents and help my dad with some projects around the house. One evening while we were sitting around (resting & recovering), my parents and my little brother started talking about their Bible-reading program.
It seems that they started the year on the same program, but had not all stayed on the program and were now on three different systems. But they were all reading the through the bible in the year, and I wasn’t.
I had to sit there and keep my mouth closed. It’s been a long time since I read through the Bible in one year. Longer than I really care to admit out loud. I had nothing to add to the discussion, and anything I said would have simply highlighted the fact that I wasn’t on the same level as they were.
I didn’t like that feeling. Over the next week or so, I began to feel very convicted. Yes, I study the Bible, and teach it in small group. But some days (ok, many days) I didn’t even crack my Bible open. My various bibles sit on a shelf and collect dust.
Can you identify with me? Have you ever thought “If Jesus matters so much to me, I ought to be more faithful to read His book regularly.”
That did not sit well with me, so I went online and got a Bible-reading program. It wasn’t expensive at all. And since late August, I have been starting my day with a few minutes of reading my Bible.
The program I chose is an all-in-one called the One Year Bible. It’s a specially formatted Bible that has 365 daily sections. Each daily section has a portion of the Bible laid out to read. There’s no need to flip around and find the right passage. Find the date and there’s your reading all formatted and ready to go.
I won’t read the whole thing before the end of the year. That’s not really my goal. I just want to be regular (faithful) in my Bible reading.
If this email strikes a chord in you, I want to encourage you to take action as I did. I’ve put a page on my website that gives you all the details on the special Bible I got.
https://www.dennis-stevenson.com/oneyearbible/.
This Bible now sits on my desk right next to my computer and it’s very easy to pick it up and read for a few minutes before I start my day. For the last few weeks I haven’t missed a single day.
My vision is that when January 1 rolls around, I’ll start over at the beginning of the book and read through next year – competing the entire Bible. I wonder how many times I can read through before I wear it out (it’s an inexpensive paperback).
If this little story is too close to home for you too, I encourage you to take action. There are blessings and spiritual rewards waiting for you.
Dennis
