Beginning….a new year, a new determination, a new outlook, a new direction, a new Bible reading.
Am I the only one that started 2012 with these words, “In the beginning..”?
About 14 years ago, during the late 1990′s when the internet was just becoming available to the average person and all of us were IMing each other, I asked some friends of mine…other moms…if they would join me in reading through the Bible in a year. It was my first attempt to truly do this. I was committed to reading it all…all in one year.
Like my grandmother did.
Every year.
Grannie Lewis would take her well worn Bible or a new Bible, and read through it, several times, in a year. She would add her notes, her thoughts, her insights to the readings. She took the Bibles of her children and grandchildren and read them through, cover to cover, and then after she had read all the Word, and added her words, her prayers, she would give the Bible back for us to read.
I still pull that Bible out and read her words on the Word.
My friends helped me that year, read through my Bible for the first time, cover to cover. We encouraged each other, lifted up each other in prayer, discussed insights, asked questions, grew closer together and, mostly…most importantly, drew closer to God.
This year, I’ve asked some friends to read with me again. Some have not responded, some tactfully said no, thankfully…one said yes!
I was a little disappointed that out of all those I asked, only one said yes….but one is enough because God said where two or more are gatherED…He is there. So the two of us will gather and hopefully more will join us as He is with us.
It’s three days into January 2012 and already I’m hearing the excuses:
I’m already behind.
I don’t like to read.
I don’t have the time.
I don’t know what to read.
I’ve tried before and could never do it.
I just don’t understand what I’m reading.
Any of those sound familiar? Have you used any of them?
Day 1 was easy…it was Sunday after all! We are suppose to be in the word on Sundays.
Day 2 – well, I was off from work, so that made it a little more easier to get the time in for reading.
Day 3 – back to a normal schedule after all the holiday schedule, back to not having enough time to rise early in the morning and read 3 chapters from Leviticus or a list of descendants in Numbers.
So I rush through my morning routine with last night’s verse ringing in my heart:
Early will I seek You. Psalm 63:1
I rush to my car, already 10 minutes later than I wanted to leave. I rush down the highway, thinking of all the crazy people that are cutting back and forth through the traffic. I rush into the building to get out of the cold. I rush to get my computer on, my desk in order and my day scheduled.
I rush.
When did I seek Him?
It’s 11am and I’m just now stopping for the day, opening my Bible for a quick reading, today’s reading Genesis 3-5.
Why didn’t I seek Him earlier? How could I have sought Him earlier?
On my drive into work, I always listen to the CD player. At work, I listen to music & podcasts on my iTunes or CDs. I “socialize” on Facebook several times a day. What if…just what if…I took some of that noise I listen to and exchanged it with the Word of God being read to me, worship music to encourage me, sermons to enlighten me?
I’m using the Read the Bible for Life resources and some or most of these suggestions can be found HERE with information on how to get the information yourself, add it to your computer or add it to your smartphone.
There really is no excuse for not wanting to spend time with God. For the most part, people that come to this website already know Him. If you had time to read this….then you had time to read His Word.
Why didn’t you choose Him over me?
I’m positive if Adam and Eve had been able to choose again, standing under that tree….they would have chosen differently.
Early in your day….early in your circumstances…early in your life…early in matters of the heart…early in troubles…early in good times….
SEEK HIM!!!!
