Oh No! It’s September!
Last January many of us here at Westchester started one of
two ‘read through the Bible’ plans; and since this is the internet I can’t ask
for a show of hands for who has kept up.
So, what happens if you are way behind in your Bible reading plan? You
could use all of your paid vacation days to catch up, and then work over
Thanksgiving. Instead of missing time
with your family, pumpkin pie, and overdosing on tryptophan, let me offer up
three simple suggestions.
First, and let this be an theme for all three, have grace on
yourself. Do not get so down on yourself
that you stop all together. Instead of getting down on yourself for not
reading, make a simple plan to start again, and keep working on it.
Second,
do not feel the need to make it all up at once.
If you convince yourself that you need to catch up and finish on time,
this reading can easily become so overwhelming that you are not able to
process, be changed, or worship God through His word. There are two ways to go about this. You can simply pick up where you left off,
and do your best to stay on track from here on out, or you can pick up where
the reading plan is now. Either way,
start reading again, and enjoy the benefits of reading God’s word. September
has just started, you can, starting today, read one third of the Bible between
now and the end of the year! Reading
just a few minutes each day can add up over a relatively short amount of time.
Finally, reevaluate your original goal of reading the whole
Bible in 2015. The purpose behind your
goal was hopefully to be in the Bible more than you were last year. Has that
happened? Are you currently on pace to do that this year? Remember the main goal for all of us is to
walk closer with God, we as pastors hope that this emphasis on God’s word has
helped you grow.
I hope your reading in the Bible this year is deeper than it
was a year ago, I hope you’re a year closer to God then you were last
fall. I praise God that he has grace
with us, and hope we can also have grace with ourselves when we don’t do as
well as we intend. I especially hope
that if you had given up on your reading plan, that this will encourage you to
start again.
Chuck Mullikin
About the Author:
Chuck serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship
About the Author:
Chuck serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship
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