If this is the year you commit to reading the bible through cover to cover, you probably know there are dozens of plans from which to choose.

Several years ago, after labouring through bible plans that seemed ponderous, I put together my own that has breathed new life into my personal daily bible reading for more than a decade.

Here are the principles on which I built my plan:

1.   Jesus’ story needs to be read…often.
Early on I realized that I want to revisit the life and ministry of Christ throughout the year. My plan places the four gospels in each season of the year.

2.   Naming the elephant in the room – Some parts of the bible are boring.
Ploughing through some sections of the Law or the minutia of genealogies can suck the life out of bible reading. I intersperse these sections with regular “bursts” of Psalms and Proverbs.

3.   The Prophets come to life when they’re matched with their history.
I like to provide context for the major and minor prophets by positioning these readings as near to their corresponding history book as possible.

4.   Grouping the Epistles creates context and texture.
I love working through the Pauline epistles, taking a “gospel break” then tackling the other letters a bit later in the year.

5.   Wrapping up the year with John
I’ve always had a special appreciation for “the disciple Jesus loved”. I end the year with John’s gospel, followed by his epistles, then the Revelation.

John Ortberg has rightly observed that while getting through the bible is good, getting all of the bible through you is what really matters. That’s very true. Reading the bible all the way through is not in and of itself spiritually significant. But the discipline of spending time in scripture can yield marvellous results.

If you want to check out my plan click on the graphic above or click here.

Whatever plan you use, stick with it, and watch as God’s Spirit breathes His life into you through His Word.

In the classic scene from Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, Linus takes centre stage and delivers a most eloquent defense of the true meaning of Christmas.

Reciting from Luke’s gospel, Linus reminds the Peanuts gang, and all of us, that at its core, Christmas is about the birth of Christ.

If Charles Schulz were ever to have re-visited that scene, I would have loved to see Linus carry on by quoting the New Testament passage that, I believe, tells us how Jesus’ birth should impact our lives today, and every day…

“Lights please…This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so love us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4: 9-12)

And THAT’S what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Merry Christmas to all.