Studies have shown that consistent Bible reading is the key to spiritual growth. The Christian who reads his or her Bible faithfully tends to grow in every other way. The believer who does not will struggle. It is no simple panacea - one must apply what is read, "be a doer of the word, and not a hear only, deceiving yourself." But your chief spiritual resolution this year should be to be a student of the word.
This is year 6 of our Southern Hills Bible Reading Challenge, and we are going back to the format we have used in the majority of those years. We have varied a couple of times with chronological reading plans, but this year we are doing the standard plan - reading from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Psalms, and Proverbs. Doing this, we will read the entire Bible in one year.
Obviously, while all the Bible is inspired and useful, some of it is more inspirational for devotional purposes than others, perhaps. With this plan, when we are reading the dietary or ceremonial laws of Leviticus or the genealogies of 1 Chronicles, those passages (that have truth and value, but can be laborious to read) will be balanced by other passages.
I have also written a devotional which I will attach to the readings. Some may be new, some are revisions, others will be repeated from previous years. But please, if you only have time to do one thing, read what God wrote, not what I wrote!
This is not a legalistic thing. Many people get behind. If you do, you can follow along at your pace or just skip ahead. Do whatever you wish. There are no rules. But read the Bible! Read it regularly and deeply and consistently and passionately.
There is no substitute.
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