We Can’t Bring Our “A” Game Unless We’re Resting at the River’s Edge
Posted by Sandy in Reading through the Bible in a Year, Scripture/The Bible, training for spiritual growth, tags: Genesis, Matthew, Reading through the Bible, Resting at the River's Edge
“When satan brought his ‘A’ game, what did Jesus do? He quoted Scripture.”
Pastor Dan Caudill
When my pastor made this statement in his sermon last week, he had my attention. He was preaching from one of my favorite passages:
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
– 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Usually I jump right into verse 16, but there are some interesting things to note in verses 14 and 15:
- Paul is writing to Timothy – a leader in the church. Continuing in God’s Word is important, no matter how long we’ve been a Christian or how spiritually mature we may be.
- Studying Scripture makes us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” – I take this to mean that as we continue in God’s Word, we learn more and more about “such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).
Then we get to the good part. All Scripture is “God-breathed.” How cool is that? When we read God’s Word, we know that what we’re reading has been infused with God’s Spirit – His wisdom, love and character. No wonder it so often speaks to our hearts and our needs.
But if we don’t read it…
- We miss His special message to us
- We don’t learn more and more about our great salvation
- We can’t expect to be prepared for the attacks satan will send our way
If Jesus’ defense against satan’s “A” game was Scripture (Matthew 4:1-10), can there be a better one? The problem is, if we’re not regularly reading (and memorizing) Scripture, there’s no way we can bring our “A” game when satan comes with his. And while topical studies are good, there is no substitute for reading Scripture as it was written – as complete books or letters. Reading an entire book or letter helps us learn the whole thought the writer was trying to communicate, not just a portion that relates to the topic we’re interested in. (Sometimes what we most need to hear are the topics we’re not interested in studying.)
The exciting thing is that anyone can read the entire New Testament through in a year by only reading one chapter a day five days each week. The longest chapter is eighty verses – most are less than half that. Fifteen minutes each day will put you in a position to hear God’s special messages for you throughout the year, learn more about our great salvation and be better prepared for satan’s attacks. I can’t think of a better deal!
Our Resting at the River’s Edge goes a bit further. We’re in the second year of a reading plan that has us reading through the Old Testament in two years and the New Testament each year. We’ll begin 2011 by re-reading three foundational books of the Old Testament – Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy. After that, our Old Testament reading will be new territory – we’ll cover the books we didn’t read last year. Our New Testament reading will begin in the gospel of Matthew. What follows will unfold in months to come.
So let me encourage you, readers, to read along with us. If you can’t find time to do both the Old Testament and New Testament, simply follow along in the New Testament. My blogs often come from my daily reading. As God whispers in my ear, I often share it with you. So as you read along with us many of my blogs will reinforce what you’ve been reading. Of course the best benefit, is that as you read, you’ll experience the fantastic benefit of hearing from God.
The recommended reading schedule for January is below.
To download a PDF of January’s recommended reading plan, click here.
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