Those three verses mark the final verses of the Old Testament. They're Malachi 4:4-6. And after I read them yesterday, I quietly closed my Bible, prayed and was thus done another Bible reading plan for another year. It has been just under eleven months since I started this read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan last September. I've used this plan before and liked it. It's called the Discipleship Journal by NavPress, and it provides you with a set of four bookmarks to mark the four places you read from each day - a portion of the Old Testament starting at Genesis 1; a Psalm or portion of wisdom literature; a section from one of the Gospels; and an epistle. Another thing I like about it is that it only gives you twenty-five days of Scripture a month, thus giving you time for catch-up if you fall behind or time for extra study.
But now yesterday is over and today is here, and that means I need another plan to keep me disciplined every day in the Word. I was interested in trying a chronological plan, as a few people I knew had tried it, and I was curious as to how it worked. My dad pointed me in the direction of George Guthrie's Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible and its accompanying book, Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God's Word. I don't have too much to say about it so far (I only started this morning), but I'm enjoying how Dr. Guthrie has laid out the plan and the book and looking forward to what is ahead. I will be reading the story of the Bible in its (as near as can be accomplished) chronological order. I won't read Genesis straight through to Revelation, but I will read the whole Word of God in the order the events took place. It should be an exciting year!
I don't know if you use a daily Bible reading plan or not, but if you don't, I'm here to say that I think you should consider it. If a "read-the-Bible-in-one-year" plan is too much reading for you, there are other plans. You can read the Bible in two or three years. That's what Travis did, and now before his fourteenth birthday, he'll have read the entire Bible, cover to cover. What a blessing! Or maybe you're like my mom, and you're so disciplined in the Word, you don't need a Bible reading plan because you read the Bible more than one time a year anyway.
But wherever you are, whatever you choose, we are commanded to read the Bible, for it is this written Word that is God's primary revelation to man. God reveals His character through Scripture, teaching you more about Himself and, in the process, more about yourself too. The Bible convicts, encourages, strengthens, blesses, builds, binds and grows. How can we not read it?
I don't know if you use a daily Bible reading plan or not, but if you don't, I'm here to say that I think you should consider it. If a "read-the-Bible-in-one-year" plan is too much reading for you, there are other plans. You can read the Bible in two or three years. That's what Travis did, and now before his fourteenth birthday, he'll have read the entire Bible, cover to cover. What a blessing! Or maybe you're like my mom, and you're so disciplined in the Word, you don't need a Bible reading plan because you read the Bible more than one time a year anyway.
But wherever you are, whatever you choose, we are commanded to read the Bible, for it is this written Word that is God's primary revelation to man. God reveals His character through Scripture, teaching you more about Himself and, in the process, more about yourself too. The Bible convicts, encourages, strengthens, blesses, builds, binds and grows. How can we not read it?