IN THE WORD
INTRODUCTION PAGE
For current day’s reading, click here.
For archived readings,
click here.
In 2004 I
read the Bible, as I have done every year for many years. Each year I have read a different translation
(or version) because I consider it important to know intimately what I am
talking about when I refer to a particular translation, critically or otherwise.
I have
discovered that while one may encounter Christ in many ways, to truly know Him
intimately one must spend time in His Word, for He is the Word made flesh. The Word of God has been called the Sword of
the Spirit, and I would suggest that the Holy Spirit is never unarmed. To proclaim to know Christ through an
encounter with the Holy Spirit, while avoiding a diligent reading of the
Scriptures inevitably leads to subjective heresies. It has been my experience that when the Bible
is neglected, the Christ that is professed becomes a christ created by man
rather than the Christ Who created man.
However, it is also true that a person can spend much time in the
Scriptures and never discover Christ, because the Spirit of Truth is not
desired. Jesus Himself affirmed this in
John 5:39. And yet in the same verse, He
made it clear it was there, in the Scriptures, that He could be found. So unless the Spirit of God draws the heart,
encounters with God’s Word will be one way.
Separate the Sword (the Word) from the Spirit or the Spirit from the
Sword, and one is left only with futility.
It is in
this light that I bring to you a chronological reading plan that will take you
through the entire Bible in one year. It
is a plan that was presented to me in The One Year Chronological Bible, Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc.,
I am also
sharing with you brief thoughts on each day’s reading that I noted in a daily
journal. I hope they are a blessing to
you, but most of all I pray that you are blessed by your daily reading. The apostle Paul’s driving desire in life was
to simply know Christ (Philippians 3:10).
If that is yours, then hang in there with your reading and as you close
your Bible on December 31, you will be suddenly and pleasantly surprised by the
realization of something only those who read the entire Bible can realize. You will have been shown the big
picture. And you will be well on your
way to realizing the life-long quest of the apostle Paul - to know Christ.
May God
bless you with grace and peace in Jesus Christ.
Chuck
Briggs