On reading your Bible this year

Here is an encouragement to not only read the Bible this year, but also a motivation for reading the Bible — because it is worth knowing more than any other book or truth —

For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant. [Martin Luther, Preface to the Prophets; HT: CQOD]

Over the years of my walk with Christ, the times of greatest difficulty in maintaining fellowship with God in His Word have inevitably been because of a lack of a plan for staying in his Word.  Might I offer two suggestions?

1. To read and meditate on the Scriptures, establish a daily practice.  Many plans are available to help you accomplish that (we have one set in the foyer at church; here are a few more).  There is nothing magical about the plan itself — it doesn’t itself impart spiritual maturity; it is simply one (of many) means by which you can be helped to maintain consistency in reading and studying.
2. Don’t just read the Scriptures.  Read and meditate.  Think about what you are reading.  What does it mean, and what can you apply from that passage?  Don Whitney has a simple 2-for-1 principle:  for every two minutes you spend reading, spend one minute meditating.  Here are some sample questions and actions that you can use to help that meditation:

• What is the main idea/central truth?
• What does this passage reveal about God?
• What is one key verse that you can memorize and think about today?
• Pray the passage.
• Commit to do (at least) one thing that day that will reinforce what you learned.

There are any number of spiritual disciplines that you might practice in the coming year.  But the best (and simplest) path to growth and maturity will be to engage in the regular habit of Bible study and meditation and then augment that discipline with regular Biblical prayer.  Engage in these two habits and you will, like Martin Luther, not only increase in understanding of the various branches of Scripture, but you will grow in your knowledge of the Root — the God — of the mighty tree of Scripture.