Bible Reading Plan 2017

I am dedicating myself in 2017 to 365 days of ThanksLiving. And one of the tools I’m adopting to get me there is a Bible Reading program along with a devotional blog in which I will post daily expressions of gratitude for what I have read that day in God’s Word. Yep, with God’s help, 365 of them!  I hope you’ll join me.

Going Deep // Focus: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

When I was growing up in a small Southern Oregon town, the kids on my block would regularly gather in the street in front of my house. There we would play some of the best football games on the planet—better than even the Super Bowl! Street football—skinned knees, bruised elbows, bragging rights (at least for that day) and tons of fun! Man, there was nothing like it!

The favorite play called in the huddle, was, of course, “go deep!” Forget about short yardage running plays or screen passes, we wanted the glory, paydirt, “tud!” — our name for a touchdown So just about every play was “go deep!” I’m telling you, that’s the way football at every level ought to be played.

I want to go deep this year in God, don’t you? I don’t want to splash around in the shallows or wade around in the wimpy water near the shore, I want to get into the depths of God like never before. Do you want to join me?

If you do, then I know of no greater practice for going deep with God than through the daily practice of Bible study—reading, meditating, journaling, and praying the Scriptures. That spiritual practice will contribute to your growth as a believer and your entrance into the deep things of God like nothing else. It’s as simple as that.

If you want to mature in your faith, morph into greater Christlikeness, deepen your knowledge of God, insulate your life from sin, enlarge your Kingdom effectiveness, increase your spiritual power, develop life skills for the daily challenges you face, and live in the blessing zone of God’s favor, you’ve got to be in God’s Holy Word on a regular, if not daily, basis.

I hope that you will join me in 2017 as we “go deep” in God through the daily reading of his Word. To help us along the way, I have provided a reading plan that was developed by the 18th century Scottish preacher Robert Murray M’Cheyne that will take us through the Old Testament once and twice through the New Testament and Psalms this year.

And just a note about the content of my raynoah.com blog over the next 12 months: The brief devotional postings will on the theme of ThanksLiving. From every reading in the first 365 entries of the Old Testament part of M’Cheyne’s plan, I will declare something for which I am thankful. I hope you will join me in this year of ThanksLiving—either coming up with your own reasons for gratitude or simply entering into mine, since they are universal blessings for all who follow Christ.

Finally, let me just assure you that there is no greater act of faith, obedience and yes, even worship, than to devote yourself to “rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)