TITUS 2-SDAY - READ ON

A new year is fast approaching. Any resolutions? About a year ago, I wrote about reading through the Bible. This has been an incredible year in God's Word - amazing how it is always new, always relevant, always timely. I'm winding up Revelation and the minor prophets this week, and am already looking forward to heading back to Genesis on Saturday.

Here are a few more thoughts for those beginning this journey....

Just read. A lady told me once - back when I had three babies in diapers - that I didn't have to read a lot of Scripture every day, but to try to read something. Every day. Even if it was only a few verses of a Psalm while I was locked inside the bathroom. Reading through the entire Bible in a single year may require a faster pace than you're able to maintain at this stage in life. That's okay. Just read what you can.

If you're ready to tackle a more stringent reading regimen, there are several daily reading schedules available online. Yesterday, I googled "read through the Bible in a year" and found a bazillion links. Some had you reading an Old Testament passage, a New Testament passage, and a Psalm or Proverb each day. Some had you reading straight through the Bible. Some had a few chapters from the Old Testament and a few chapters from the New. If you want a schedule to help pace yourself, there are plenty of options available. There are even two-year schedules posted online, if that sounds more do-able for you.

Another alternative - The One Year Bible. One of my sons picked up a copy of this Bible for his 2011 reading. It is formatted to a daily calendar - you read straight through the book, from cover to cover, but it is organized so that each day's reading includes Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Pretty cool, huh?!

Finally, I have to say again - expect to be amazed. I can't remember how many times this past year I sat down for my daily reading with a particular burden on my heart, only to have that day's passage speak precisely to my concerns. Or the number of times my Old and New Testament readings related to and enhanced each other. Or the number of times I thought, "I know I read this last year, but this just seems so totally new to me." Mostly, expect to be amazed at the majesty, holiness, goodness, mercy, faithfulness, beauty, and grace of the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God who authored this book.