Cover to Cover Together

Confession: I am not a natural planner

Planning does not come easy to me. I am ashamed to admit that for me, planning feels arduous and many times frustrating. I would rather make efforts to enjoy the moment than to plan for it. In fact, I am so bad at planning, I have to plan in order to plan... and there in lies my problem.

Yet... I have learned the importance of having a plan. Things get done when you plan to do them at a much higher rate than if you use the wait and see approach. The benefits out-weigh the negatives, so...I plan to plan.

Planning for Study

As one year comes to an end and the new year begins, planning gets a popularity boost. New and exciting planners and calendars are purchased, coffee makers are just a little busier and exciting events are added to schedules.

Remembering that the likelihood of accomplishing something increases with a plan, one of the most important plans you can make for the new year is a plan to study God's word. The very words of God are at your fingertips and without a plan, you may find that you have neglected a simple source of communion with your Creator.

Each year new Bible reading plans and scripture devotionals come out that can be leveraged as plans for personal and family study. Each year blog posts, like this one, are written to encourage you to spend less time reading our words and more time reading God's. Each year your Bible is there for you, on your desk or bookshelf waiting to take you on a journey to knowing God.

We have no excuse. Planning for reading the Bible is already done for us, we just need to pick a reading plan and pick a time that we will accomplish it.

Cover to Cover Together

When it come to suggestions for reading the word of God, I have two:

1) Plan to read it cover to cover: There is immense value to reading each and every word that God has placed in His book. Starting in Genesis and working to Revelation offers the reader a grand view of the entire story of scripture and may unearth for us forgotten beauty in stories or wisdom that we have not read for some time. Make it a goal to read every word in the Bible at least once this in the next year.

2) Plan to read it together: Reading alone is important and valuable, but reading with (and to) your family is a great way to expose them to the truths of God. As you read together your family will understand the importance of scripture and you will have opportunities to speak about the beauty and wonder of God.

If you plan to read through the entire Bible in the next year, committing to do it with your family will help motivate you when life gets busy. Your children become your accountability partners in the quest to read through all of scripture because they will wonder why you didn't bring the Bible to dinner, or why you have not read to them yet. It may be a struggle at first but asking your family to join you as your read through the Bible will pay off in many ways.

Make the commitment, the resolution, the promise, the covenant (or whatever else you want to call it) to read the Bible from Cover to Cover Together.