I'm reading through the Bible this year and I'm doing pretty well using The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. It's a great reading plan because it allows for a few 'off' days each month so if you miss a day you don't always to read double to catch up. Well, anyway, I just saw this great post on Buzzard Blog regarding reading through your Bible:The whole point of reading through your Bible on a regular basis is to begin to see and celebrate that the whole Bible is about the cross--about the gospel, about the good news of what Jesus has done for you.Make it to the cross.
If you don't make it to the cross, if you read a few verses in Proverbs and a paragraph of commands in Philippians without detecting how these sentences connect to the blood-stained beam of wood where, "For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21), then consequences will follow.
If you don't make it to the cross, you'll make your Bible reading and your relationship with God about your performance rather than about Jesus' performance. You'll gravitate away from the gospel and towards religion. Anxiety and fear will take the place of confidence, joy, and rest. Legalism will replace freedom. If your eyes don't catch a glimpse of the cross as you turn the pages of Scripture, you're likely to spend much of your day staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love.
Cultivate the habit of making it to the cross every time you read your Bible.
I thought it was a great reminder for me to look for the cross in my reading. And, oh my, I can certainly relate to cross-less reading that involves 'staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love'. I'm so thankful that God has helped me to learn to see the cross more!
BTW, I love Buzzard Blog and I read it everyday (by RSS feed)! The articles are relatively short but very helpful. Always worth a stop!
2 comments:
One of my friends just told me about a Bible that is completely in chronological order, so some of the books of the Bible are even broken up. But I love the idea of reading through the Bible as it really happen in the correct order of history. It's called the One Year Chronological Bible.
I've tried reading that before. It was neat to see the actual order. I like the way I'm doing it now b/c I can jump around a bit. I read a little in Genesis, read a Psalm, a gospel, and some of Acts.
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