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If you’re anything like me, this year of reading through the Bible has had its ups and downs. To be honest with you, I’ve spent this past weekend “catching up” to being only a few days behind in my reading! Throughout the year there have been times when I’ve been ahead and times behind, but this past six weeks has put me behind. It’s terribly tempting to just give up when I fall behind, but I’m so glad that many of us have been doing this together. It provided the motivation I needed to reach the finish line more or less on time. Having made the commitment, I found that every time I fell behind, God provided an opening in my schedule for me to catch up. (Not always in a pleasant way – this weekend’s opening was caused by developing bronchitis and pleurisy. Ouch! But it means lots of time NOT doing other things. Thank You, Lord, for this bit of enforced rest.)

If you’ve kept up with us and expect to finish reading through the whole Bible this month – Congratulations! Well done! You are to be commended for your efforts and commitment.

I know that many of you have followed along but at a slower pace. I also want to commend you. Reading through the Bible is no small feat, and if you are able to finish it in thirteen or fifteen or eighteen months instead of twelve – Congratulations! You are also to be commended for your efforts and commitments. You resisted the pressure to give up when you fell behind, and that’s a good thing. Let me encourage you to stick with it. We’ll be moving on to a new approach in January, but don’t feel pressure to drop the 2009 plan if you’re on schedule to finish it at your own pace.

Some of you began the plan and became overwhelmed early on. That’s OK. There is a time and season for everything. (If I told you how many books I’ve started and never finished…well, there are probably more of them than books I’ve actually finished.) Consider starting again in 2010. We’ll be following a different approach that might just work better for you.

We’ll start a new reading plan on January 3, so watch for a blog later this week with details and a January plan.

My prayer is that you have been challenged and blessed as you’ve read God’s Word along with us in 2009. I look forward to reading along with you in 2010 as well.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 27th, 2009 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Reading through the Bible in a Year. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.