kHave you been longing to get into God’s Word, but don’t know where to start? Have you started reading God’s Word before and then got lost in all the details? Or you’ve missed some days and then lost heart? I think it may be time to stop thinking about what’s gone wrong in the past and start thinking about what could be!

I’ve been using Robert McCheyne’s Bible reading plan for the last year or so. It is a good one! He is a 19th century Scottish preacher who wanted his people to get into the discipline of reading the Word, especially in homes. This has been a big challenge for me. His plan is this.

1. Read 4 passages a day. (morning, noon, dinner, evening).
2. Read 2 of the 4 passages aloud with someone in the house.
3. Read the other 2 passages alone.

If one sticks to his plan, he/she would read the Old Testament once, the New Testament and Psalms twice each. I know it sounds aggressive. And for most of us, it seems undoable. But let me challenge you…

One and half years ago, I was a couch potato. I started walking after a heart surgery and realized how we can create new habits. In my rehab they said it takes 40 days to make a habit. The danger is, missing for just a few days can break a habit. So, the power is in our consistency. They also said about physical exercise that it takes about 10 weeks of regular exercise to experience health benefits, but it takes just two weeks to lose all the benefits you gain. If those principles hold true to spiritual growth, we now know why we are such up and down creatures. We need good, firm, spiritual habits.

If you want to accept this challenge, you can follow the reading on Twitter. My goal is to send a tweet about each text just before it is scheduled to be read. So, check out the tweet, read the text and be filled with the Word of God.

My wife Kris and I are taking the challenge. I hope you will consider that too.
Follow this on Twitter, @jimrenke We are putting the reading schedule in our weekly bulletin insert at Village Green Baptist Church and I will post it on this blog weekly.

I hate to let you off the hook from trying something big, but if you want to do just one or two passages a day, that would be an option. But really, isn’t there 15 minutes of TV, or radio, or Facebook that you could give up to do this? I know there is for me.

So, let’s go for this! And let’s see what God will do in us, through His Word.

READING FOR THIS WEEK:

JAN 1 – Gen 1; Matt 1; Ezra 1; Acts 1

JAN 2 – Gen 2; Matt 2; Ezra 2; Acts 2

JAN 3 – Gen 3; Matt 3; Ezra 3; Acts 3

JAN 4 – Gen 4; Matt 4; Ezra 4; Acts 4

JAN 5 – Gen 5; Matt 5; Ezra 5; Acts 5

JAN 6 – Gen 6; Matt 6; Ezra 6; Acts 6