Jump In

I keep a handful of 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plans on hand. I love this particular Bible Reading Plan, especially for those that are just beginning to practice the discipline of daily Scripture reading. Reading the New Testament is laid out quite simply; passages are read in just 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Also included in the plan are 5 suggestions for meditation, journaling, or further study to use on the other two days. It’s a great tool for developing the habit of daily time in the Word of God.

When I share this tool with someone, I always encourage them to start with the current date; to not try to catch up, and to remember to do the same thing if they ever get behind – to just jump back in where they are; don’t try to catch up before moving on. I stress that they should only work on catching up after the current dates reading is completed.

Why do I tell them that? Because I don’t want them to get discouraged, put off Bible reading until they have time to get catch up, or worst yet, stop reading the Word of God completely.

This year, I am reading through the Bible chronologically. Guess where this is going. Yup, I got behind! And did I take my own advice? Absolutely not!! Yeah, even though the Holy Spirit was whispering it in my ear. Okay, so perhaps He was screaming. (Can I admit this and everyone still love me?!?!) But hey, everyone knows that you can’t just jump in where you’re at when you are reading the Bible chronologically. Come on, I’d get confused, not understand what happened when, and besides daily Bible reading is not something new to me… been doing it for years. I knew I could handle it and get caught back up.

I kept reading most days but I was still behind and reading the Bible was becoming a drag *gasp* to me because I was really discouraged that I was behind. Hmm, heard that that could happen somewhere...

Insert slap alongside the head by God. Ugh! So this week, I took my own advice. I jumped in on the current date. Yeah, Bible reading has again become rewarding all of a sudden. Imagine that! I had to chuckle this morning when I realized that tomorrow, June 4th, on my wedding anniversary, the daily reading is the entire book of the Song of Solomon.

If you’d like to print out a copy of the 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan, the link is on one of my blog posts from December 2009. It's entitled 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan but whatever you do, don’t try to catch up – just jump in!