Out of Town Guests, Read Through the Bible In a Year

Dinner tonight:

• Stir-fry beef strips, nuts and  colored peppers over rice, egg rolls

The stromboli that I made with homemade bread dough was a HUGE hit last night, so perhaps I'm on a roll.  My  brother who lives in Houston arrives around lunchtime today  and will stay with us through Friday while on a business trip (very unusual). My older son is working in the area today and will be able to join us for the evening as well.  :)  My brother's birthday was last week  so we'll have a nice family dinner for him.  It's always good to have him visit.  He and his two grown sons along with my younger son play Xbox together, generally on Tuesday  nights, so this week it'll be in person rather than long-distance.  :) 

As I mentioned before, I've been reading through the Bible in a year as I have done for the past several years.  I use The One Year Bible (NIV) which is arranged in 365 daily readings.  

It makes the reading so much easier for me with the passages already divided into each calendar date.  No brochures or pamphlets or flipping all over the Bible looking for the right passage.  I've heard that there is a new read-through-the-Bible out these days called a 90-day program.  I believe it works out to 12 chapters a day.  It may work better for you.  

Either way, I highly encourage anyone to practice  this spiritual discipline.  As often as I've done it and other readings and study on my own, new details "appear" that I wonder how I've never noticed them before.  Today I was reading Genesis 24-26 and noticed that one of Esau's wives was named Judith.  I don't remember the name Judith even being in the Bible. I also did not remember that Esau's mother Rebekah did not like either of Esau's two wives. Could be pre-menopause, too, but I'm a pretty good student and was surprised to see that this morning.  

Mornings are just "reading" times, not thorough study times.  I do not write or highlight  in my One Year Bible at all.  My regular "study" Bible has notes on most pages from years of reading and study.  You DID know that you can write in your Bible, I hope.  God's Word is alive and active as well as INTERactive when you make notes in it.  Some people get a new Bible every year or two.  I like to keep the same one as a journal / study of my life and rarely change. We have multiple versions in our home for reference.  The Bible I generally read now was purchased when I got married in 1987 and is notated throughout.  It's also in my favorite translation, the NASB.   I have also used  Accordance Bible software for more advanced study for many years.  This is a Macintosh-based program. 

Whatever Bible or method you read, make it a daily practice.  As Martha would say, " it IS a good thing."  :)