The start of a New Year is a great time to start a good habit. Many people make health commitments. I would like to suggest you consider making some spiritual health commitments. What do you think would happen if you made a decision to read your bible everyday in the New Year? Well, the bible says that you would be prosperous. Psalm chapter 1 says:
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Reading the Word of God has a cleansing effect on our lives also. Psalm 119 says:
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
A while back I learned a really cool way to stay in God’s word. I’d like to share it with you so you can try it. You will need three things. First a bible. Well that makes sense doesn’t it? Second, you will need a reading plan. I use the One Year Bible as my reading plan. It organizes my reading into Old Testament and New Testament daily. Without a reading plan most people will gravitate towards favorite books of the bible and may not read the whole word. The One Year Bible also has an online version that is pretty convenient,
www.oneyearbibleonline.com .
So this is how it works. You follow your reading plan and look for four things as you read. This is where the acrostic S.O.A.P comes in. As you read look for a Scripture that stands out to you. Then insert that scripture into your journal. Next, make an Observation about what you have just read. What stands out to you? Include that in your journal as well. The A stands for Action. What action does God want you to take? Record that in your journal. Then lastly turn all of your entries into a Prayer. This
whole process should only take 20-30 minutes. You can also divide the
New Testament and Old Testament readings into Morning and Evening times. If
you really want to get fancy you can also look at the page you just
wrote in your journal and decide on an appropriate title that
summarizes that page. Then you can number the page and start an index at the front of the journal. This will make it easy for when you want to refer back to your journal entries.
So, what are you waiting for? Go get a bible and a journal. You can start your journaling on January 1st. Stay clean with S.O.A.
P.
Peace Out,
PAL
