Are you looking for a New Year's resolution to make? Of course, your resolution has to be something that's important to you. The Word of God is important to me. At so many milestones in my life and faith, I have received comfort and wisdom and faith itself while reading the Bible. When I was in middle school, I read in the Gospel of John, "You did not choose me, I chose you." When my mother died, what popped in my head was 1 Thessalonians, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things," and I felt comforted. At a philosophical/epistemological crisis in my life, I read in 1 Corinthians, "Then we shall know even as we are fully known," and my perspective shifted, and I felt better. Every week, the thing I most want to do is study the Bible and practice exegesis as I prepare for the sermon. God speaks to me through scripture; you can't hear this voice if you're not reading.
I sat down with the internet and figured out how many chapters there are in Bible and did some math and figured out that just under four chapters a day would read the Bible in a year. I decided to do that: read four chapters a day. I've restarted that year after year a couple of times. I usually start after Pentecost at the beginning of summer, but this year I didn't, for some reason, and I miss it, so I'm starting again in the new year.
If you're casting about for a new year's resolution, and if scripture is as important to you as it is to me, I invite you to read four chapters per day with me starting January 1st. The only difficulty will be when we hit Psalm 119, which is the longest chapter. I usually read one stanza of Psalm 119 as an extra reading after I've read four chapters in the Psalms. If you start doing this with me, I'll explain again when we get to the Psalms.
In order to have a sense of community as we do this together, I'm going to start using the Thursday noon Bible study time as a check in time for this project. I'll be in the parlor in the basement, and I invite you to come by. If you can't, then I'll arrange for a zoom conference so we can see and hear each other. If you can't do that, you can send me an email and we'll exchange our thoughts and challenges and celebrations in writing (send it before noon on Thursdays, and I'll read/respond in that noon hour).
OK, so that's a couple of resolutions, isn't it?
read four chapters of the Bible per day (with special treatment of Psalm 119)
check in with Chas weekly in the Thursday noon hour (or by the Thursday noon hour if you're sending an email)
be open to what scripture is saying to you
If you're taking up these resolutions, email me so I know who to expect on Thursdays. Let me know if you plan to be there live, would like me to set up a zoom meeting with you (with us), or will be emailing me. The first Thursday, January 2nd is a special case, since I'll be out of town, so let's call that one an email-only check-in.
I look forward to reading the Bible with you, four chapters per day.
--Chas
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