Christian, you’ll need more than a new Bible reading plan for 2024 …

When I saw the meme to the right posted on social media this week, I thought, “Amen!”

Every January, a person I know proudly posts on social media that he has begun X year of reading the entire Bible in one year. Actually doing that is not a difficult task to accomplish, it’s just most people don’t do it.

Reading the entire Bible at least once each year is a good and beneficial thing to do, but not a command. Sometimes we need to take a slower approach to dig into different topics, themes, doctrines, or books of the Bible.

Regardless how you choose to read the Bible in any given year, what is critically needed in addition to reading the Bible is a serious study of it. We can learn and grow and mature to a degree just by reading the Bible, but to actually be a disciple — a student or learner — of Jesus Christ, we must develop a persistent discipline to studying the Bible.

Let me give you an example. You might be reading through the Bible, find yourself in the book of Romans, and come across this verse:

“So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus,” Romans 6:11.

That single sentence of scripture is powerful! It’s deeply profound to the life of a genuine disciple of Jesus, it should impact us to the depths of our souls!

But it likely won’t land that way if we only skim past it while reading our way through the Bible.

Here’s what studying the Bible looks like …

Can you fully, intelligently, accurately articulate the meaning of that verse?

Could you sit down and write at least a one page synopsis of the meaning of that verse of scripture?

Far more important, have you used your head and your heart, as led by the Holy Spirit, to meditate on and ponder the truth of that scripture in light of how you live?

Could you teach that verse, with understanding and wisdom, to another Christian?

Do you see how studying the Bible is radically different than just reading it? Can you see how studying the Bible is essential for disciples of Jesus? Can you see how much more you can contribute to your maturing in Christ by a life dedicated to the study of the Bible, and being faithful and obedient to the Word?

By all means, find a Bible reading plan you’re happy with for 2024, but don’t just settle for reading the Word, make a serious, life-long commitment to the serious study of it.

Scotty