I think in terms of projects rather than resolutions. I’m posting the plans for some of my projects here so that I can keep track of them and for your edification.
I plan to take one book of the Bible or part of one book each month and read it through each day for that month. I also want to take notes of what impresses me from the day’s reading, maybe copy out a verse or two, maybe memorize a passage or a few verses. I memorize fairly easily, but long term retention is becoming more problematic as I get older. Anyway, here’s the tentative plan, subject to revision as the Spirit moves.
January: Mark 1-8. My pastor is starting a sermon series on Mark that will last through the spring. So Mark seems like a good place to start on my Bible reading adventure for 2008.
February: Ruth. We have a women’s retreat in February, and we’ll be doing an intensive weekend study of the book of Ruth. Plus, February is such a romantic month, and Ruth is a romantic story of God’s providence in the area of courtship and marriage. I’ll be taking my annual Lenten blog break during the months of February and March, but I’ll keep a record of anything profound and worth sharing that comes out of my Bible study and share it with Semicolon readers when I return. (Ash Wednesday in 2008 falls on February 6th, and Resurrection Sunday will be on March 23rd.)
March: Mark 9-16. Mark’s the shortest gospel with only 16 chapters, so I’ll read the second half in March.
April: I Samuel 1-11. As a follow-up to Ruth? Samuel and Saul and David seem like good subjects for study and meditation.
May: Romans 1-8. The SBC January Bible study for 2008 is on the book of Romans, so I should be able to find a good study guide at Lifeway. As I’ve said many times, I’m still a Southern Baptist at heart even though we attend an Evangelical Free church these days. Romans also has sixteen chapters, so I’ll finish it up in July.
June: I Samuel 12-17.
July: Romans 9-16.
August: I Samuel 18-23.
September: 1 John.
October: I Samuel 24-31.
November: 2 John and 3 John.
December: Isaiah 52-61. These chapters are chock-full of prophecies about the coming Messiah, especially the Messiah as a Suffering Servant, so I thought they’d be appropriate for next year’s Advent.
Sounds like a good plan! 🙂 I wish that I could make a resolution and stick with it like that. I tried reading the epistles somewhat like that. A whole month of Ephesians. A whole month of Galations. etc. But after two or three, I accidentally gave up. I never plan to fall off the wagon. It just happens. I’m hoping to come up with a good plan myself for 2008.
That looks like a great Bible reading plan.
I haven’t tried this approach yet, but my husband says it’s very helpful to read the same passage in different versions — KJV, NIV, NASB, ESV, RSV, the originial Greek (if you know the language), etc. — so that the words don’t become so familiar that we lose sight of their meaning. He memorizes passages in only one version, but he reads through many.
The Correspondent
Pingback: Twelve Projects for 2009 at Semicolon
Pingback: Sunday Salon: Twelve Projects for 2010 : Semicolon