Last week
I shared the reading plan that I use in order to get a steady intake of the
Word. I wrote that I plan to read through the New Testament once a month. For
any who might wonder about including the Old Testament in your reading plan,
permit me to share the rest of the story. As anyone can tell, the Old Testament
is almost four times longer than the New. So, for me, I try to read through the
Old Testament once a year. The question is how do I do it? At first glance, it
seems like a daunting task. Many who start reading through the Old Testament
get bogged down as they try to get through Leviticus so be forewarned. Push
through it even if you do not grasp as much as you did in Genesis and Exodus.
Someone
asked the proverbial question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The
classic response is,"One bite at a time." How do you read through the
Old Testament? One page at a time. I have broken the Old Testament into monthly
assignments. Daily readings can be from two to four pages. Here is how you can
break what appears to be a monumental task into smaller manageable units:
January:
read Genesis and Exodus
February:
read Leviticus through Deuteronomy
March:
read Joshua through 1 Samuel
April:
read 2 Samuel through 1 Kings
May: read
2 Kings through 2 Chronicles
June:
read Ezra through Job
July:
read Psalms
August:
read Proverbs through Song of Solomon
September:
read Isaiah
October:
read Jeremiah
November:
read Lamentations through Daniel
December:
read Hosea through Malachi
This is a
simple plan that will work if you will simply implement it. The key is
consistency. I challenge you to get into God's Word and read it and study it
for your self. Whenever I read the Scriptures, I always ask three guiding
questions: What does it say? What does it mean? And, what am I going to do
about it? I challenge you to get into the Word and let it shape you into being
Christ-like!
