What is it?
Have you read every word of the New Testament? Perhaps you’ve started many times, but if you’re like us, haven’t always been able to finish. This is why we decided to create the Every Word Reading Challenge. Using the schedule (download a copy on the right), you can check off each day’s portion as you go along, keeping yourself on track. By devoting just 5-10 minutes a day, we plan to read through the first half of the New Testament during the fall semester, and then the rest in the spring.
How to get the most out of it
1. Begin each reading session by offering a short prayer to the Lord.
2. Although you can do your NT reading at any time of the day, we encourage you to do it during the earlier part of the day.
3. If you happen to miss one or more days of the reading schedule, don’t get discouraged. Just jump back in according to the schedule and then, as time permits, catch up on the days you have missed.
4. As you endeavor to keep this reading schedule, you will discover that it is difficult to do by yourself. What can you do? Find or form a group of at least one or two friends with whom you can read through the New Testament. Pursuing Christ in order to know Him and gain Him is a corporate matter, and not one Christian can accomplish this by himself.
5. Use phone calls, texts, facebook, e-mails, etc. to share with your group whatever you are enjoying from your Bible reading. This will keep your enjoyment of Christ fresh, it will supply the others with life, and it will become a loving reminder to them that we are endeavoring to become a people of the truth.
6. If at any time you find yourself struggling to keep the reading schedule, take this as an opportunity to open your situation to one or more of the ones in your group, so that they can pray for you. You may find out that some of them are also struggling to keep the schedule, and this will give you an opportunity to pray for them.
The Bible
The Bible is God’s gift to man and man’s greatest treasure. It communicates to us God’s purpose and the meaning of our human life. When we read it with our spirit, we activate everything that the Bible is, touch God, and allow Him to enter into us. To make this happen, the Word has to come off the shelf, off the page, and into us through our consistent reading. May God have mercy on all of us to regularly and daily read this proven and precious book!
Our Daily Bread
No healthy person eats only when he is inspired. Reading the Bible is no different from eating physical food, for both are life necessities. Just like we eat regular meals each day, we also have to receive the word of God into us consistently and livingly. Our spiritual life depends on it! The nourishment we receive from the supply of life in God’s word becomes a subjective and practical part of our living.