It’s January, which means everyone and their mom is starting one version or another of a “Read the Bible in a Year plan”.
For clarification, I am everyone. Everyone is me.
Is it a cliche? Maybe!
The intentions of bible reading plans are always good!
We want to draw closer to God, we want to learn more about His word, we want to grow not only in wisdom, but also in discernment, prayer, and hearing God’s voice above anything else.
I want to be spirituality-jacked, in a way.
But there’s always hesitation.
Life gets in the way and you miss a day. One day turns into two, then four, and then a week. Next thing you know, you can’t even remember the last time you cracked open your little reading plan!
I don’t believe God meant for us to spend time with Him in this way. He’s not a God of strict schedules. There is no verse that states, “At 8 AM Central Time, thou shalt crack open my word for your fifteen to twenty minutes of reading.”
It sounds silly (because it is)!
I will fail at reading God’s word.
You will fail at reading God’s word.
And yet, God still wants us, loves us, and that never changes, ever.
Does God want us to spend time in His word? 100% YES.
Paul writes in Colossians 3, “Let the word of Christ dwell in our hearts richly” (ESV).
The Passion Translation says, “Let the word of Christ live in you richly”.
“Richly” in verse 16 refers to the Greek word plousiōs, which can also stand for “incredible abundance, magnificent opulence, extreme vastness” and so on.
So let’s try a little exercise, a little wordplay!
Let the word of Christ dwell in your heart abundantly.
Let the word of Christ take up magnificent opulence in your heart.
Let the word of Christ dwell in your heart with extreme vastness to no end.
Colossians 3 is also just a good reminder of how we are called to live.
It’s the reminder I need for this new year!
To be compassionate, full of humility and hope.
To put away malice, envy, any and everything that distracts us from the beauty and magnificence of God.
To bear with one another and build each other up.
To be thankful and full of peace because of Jesus and what He’s done.
To put on love and lead with love.
“And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17 ESV).
So, yeah.
We’re probably going to be inconsistent in our Bible reading and our time with the Lord. But we are called to something deeper than a checkbox reading plan. We are called to abide in God’s presence with our time, our actions, our skills, and anything and everything we are.
This January, if you relate to this passage and feel discouraged with reading the entire Bible, you aren’t alone! God doesn’t care about how much we’ve read, but how we will use it to encourage others and further bring Him glory and honor.
Happy reading!
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