Happy New Year! Whether you stayed up well past midnight, or turned the calendar while happily snoring away (like I did), I wish you a wonderful year to come!

I keep this passage at the front of my journal, so I can pray it regularly for the people in my life. May it be true for you in this coming year:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Photo by Stainless Images

This week I finished reading the Bible all the way through, from Genesis to Revelation. I enjoy my morning times with coffee and the Scriptures—one of the few good habits I’ve acquired over the years. As I prepare to start this journey again, let me share eight reasons I tackle this daunting book every year.

I interact with a living entity. This is actually a bit scary, but when we read the Scriptures seeking God, they begin to breathe. Godly truth burrows into hearts and minds. One writer described the experience like this: The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It’s weird to open a book and ask God to speak, supernatural even. But if you can’t appreciate the supernatural, why bother being a Christian?

I gain an expansive view of God. Left to myself, I shrink God into my own image. I prefer a God who reminds me of me, who approves of my lifestyle and choices, and who hugs me despite my subtle disregard of his ways. No such God exists in the pages of Scripture, but how will I know if I don’t go take a look?

The discipline of daily reading develops my faith. Regular reading creates a habit and builds spiritual muscle. I did not choose to live the Christian life on a lark. As a serious and devoted follower of Jesus, I hope to continually grow deeper and broader in my faith. Bible reading forms the foundation of that growth.

I discover something I’ve never noticed on a regular basis. This may be my favorite part of reading the Bible. I discover faithful heroes and intriguing villains, fresh thoughts and challenging ideas. God surprises me, and not always in a comfortable way.

God rolls me around in the dirt. The Lord uses the Scriptures to point out my pride or vanity or loose talk. I don’t like it. At times I despise it. But I appreciate the fact that concepts in the Bible pull me up short and make me take a hard look at myself.

I wrestle with Scripture’s approach to the world. I don’t understand parts of the Bible. Why did the child born from David’s sin with Bathsheba have to die? Seems so unfair, but that’s what God wanted. I grapple with my understanding and beliefs about God. I believe questions fuel our faith, just as questions fueled the faith of many in the Bible.

The Holy Spirit blows fresh in my life. The Holy Spirit changes, comforts, challenges and builds us, particularly paired with the wisdom of the Bible. The combination of Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture transforms my heart. Nothing else works in such a supernatural way. I fight temptation, I gain compassion, and I get beyond myself when the Holy Spirit uses the words of God in my life.

I prosper. The psalmist tells us, Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers (Psalm 1). I want such a life and it only comes by meditating on the scriptures daily. Comfort, hope and peace bloom in such an environment, and my soul swells.

I encourage you to join me and read the Bible cover to cover. You can do it! If you spend 30 minutes a day on social media, you can read the Bible through in a year. Few experiences yield greater benefit. Who knows? You might start a habit you’ll enjoy for years and years.

Photo by Jonathan Sanchez

This week I finished reading through the Bible for the thirty-second time. Exactly half the years of my life I’ve read the Bible cover to cover. Hard for me to believe, but a little effort compounded over a long time brings good outcomes. I’ve noticed that somewhere along the way my Bible moved from a religious text to a trusted friend.

A lot has happened since I started this discipline. Over the 40 or more years I’ve been seriously reading and studying my Bible, I’ve watched wars start and finish, only to start again elsewhere. Political wrangling has grown nastier, metastasizing into its current form. Our society’s perspective on morals, never Puritanical in my lifetime, drifted further from shore. Religious persecutions continue unabated in many parts of our world. Personally, I’ve grown older (and maybe wiser), have lost people I loved and gained new ones to love as well.

Though all the changes, this one habit grounds me. When I started this journey, I read where Jesus said to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Now, all these years later, Jesus says the exact same thing.

The Scriptures form a lens through which I attempt to view the world. How does a certain perspective on wealth or gender or sexuality or politics stack up against Biblical values? Some issues remain cloudy, but I start from the Bible and move outward, rather than band-aiding a verse on ever-shifting opinions.

I draw comfort from reading God’s promises over and over. I write verses in my journal that I return to often. Here’s a favorite: The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

A good friend brings stability, and the Scriptures do just that. Everything around me alters and reorganizes, but God never shifts. King David wrote about how the Lord set his feet upon a rock, and made his steps secure. That rock still exists. It sits in plain sight. Take up the Good Book and read. Over time it will become a good friend, one who sticks with you for the rest of your life.

Matthew 22:37-39; Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 40:2

Photo by Nathan Dumlao

Even though Christmas Day has past, my wife and I like to linger in the moment. We leave our decorations up well past the new year. Why be in a hurry to move on? Plus, since it took so much work to get ready, we enjoy the accouterments of the holiday a bit longer.

One Christmas carol, however, reminds me it’s time to move on. Go Tell It On The Mountain refers to shepherds, who after a searing encounter with an angelic host, left their fields to find a baby. As they ran they shouted to everyone they met: Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! (I like this version of the song, as it captures the enthusiasm of the shepherds).

Go Tell It On The Mountain originated among slaves in the American South, and was first put on paper by John Wesley Work, an African-American collector of Negro spirituals. Even people in bondage, perhaps with more intensity than us today, celebrated the birth of our Savior.

This song reminds us to keep telling. After his death and resurrection Jesus met with his disciples and gave them a mission: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread out across the entire world and make more and more followers of him. In other words, Go Tell It On The Mountain! We follow in the footsteps of angels and shepherds and apostles when we pass on the wonderful news that Jesus Christ is born.

Luke 2:10-12; Matthew 28:18-20

Photo by Thanti Riess