Thursday, January 1, 2009

Resolving to Focus on Eternity

I am beginning this blog to chronicle my Bible reading this year (and beyond, perhaps) and to share some of the things God shows me as I read His Word. My husband and I decided it would be a good idea to read through the Bible this year with our kids. As I looked up reading schedules online I came across a schedule for reading through the entire Bible in 90 days and I have decided to do that on my own, in addition to our family Bible reading.

My plan is to read through the Bible every 90 days throughout 2009. Including our family reading time, reading through the Bible in 365 days, I will be reading the entire Bible 5 times this year. (My husband had to point out to me that it would be 5 times and not 4 since I would be reading with the family as well, silly me)

I have always been sorely negligent in my Bible reading. At times I have done better then other times but I have never been dilligent in keeping a daily Bible reading going on a consistant basis. I know God has been prompting me to remedy this for some time now and beginning a brand new year seems like a good starting point for me. I was also encouraged to make a commitment to change this bad habit by my Pastor's sermon this last Sunday.

My pastor's sermon was entitled "Making Resolutions that Matter for Eternity". (If you'd like to hear it you can do so at www.skylinebaptistchurch.net, just go to 'listen to sermons online' and look for that title or the date 12/28/2008)

Here are the 7 'resolutions' from the sermon outline: (The text was Hebrews 12:1-4)

1) Resolve to soberly reflect on the lives of faithful men and women. (v.1a)

2) Resolve to thouroughly remove every worldly hindrance to spiritual growth. (v.1b)

3) Resolve to insatiably seek after an ever-greater personal holiness. (v.1c)

4) Resolve to relentlessly persevere in your faith and faithfulness. (v.1d)

5) Resolve to earnestly focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. (v.2)

6) Resolve to tenaciously fight to keep a Christ-centered perspective. (v.3),P> 7) Resolve to humbly live and die for the glory of God. (v.4)

What can better help me to achieve these goals then reading through the Bible?

Pastor David also referrenced, and shared some of, Jonathan Edwards 70 resolutions written when he (Edwards) was a young man. The ones Pastor David shared were very convicting, I have not had a chance to read them all myself yet but I did google 'Jonathan Edwards 70 resolutions' and put them in my favorites to go over in the next few days. Edwards himself resolved to read through them once a week, perhaps I will try to do the same...

In any case I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

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