Wednesday, January 3, 2018

New Year, New Bible Reading Plan

I don't exactly make New Year's resolutions, but in December, I was looking for something to help me to systematically work through the Bible.  I intended to start right away, not worrying about a January 1 date, but then I ran across a book, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan, through Logos.

 It has a 365 day reading plan with a reading for every day from the Old Testament, from the New Testament, and from somewhere else -- basically the wisdom literature.  In January, you start off with Genesis, Matthew, and Ecclesiastes. 

In addition to the suggested Bible readings, there is a short devotional related to one (or more)  of the passages.

I decided to start on January 1 after all.


The devotional for yesterday (yes, I'm behind already, only two days in) was titled "Scripture for War or Peace?" and the focus was on Matthew 3-4.  Of course, you also read Genesis 3 yesterday, so it applied some there.  Both Satan and Jesus are quoting scripture, but the aim is different.  This really hit me:

This story raises the question, “Will we use Scripture to defend our own positions, or use it to defend God’s?” It’s easy to quote Scripture only to defend our personal theological position. Sometimes we are too focused on being “right” and not necessarily on helping other believers. However, while we might believe that being “right” will ultimately help them, it’s possible that we’re inhibiting the gospel message instead. We might even be the one driving them away.
John Barry ends the day with a question -- "How do you need to change the way you’re using Scripture?"

That is something to think on.

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