Why are we being Challenged To Read the Bible in a Year?

Many people have asked me why I am challenging the church to Read through the Bible in a year. The most frequent concern seems to be that many people will not participate - or that they will give up before the end. To me, though, while this may be true for some, that doesn't mean I shouldn't challenge them anyway.

Take the following:
Many Christians do not consistently read the Bible
Many more only read the passages they enjoy or understand
Most have never fully read through the Bible

To me, this is a sad state for Christianity. Why aren't we reading the Word of God? Why aren't we making it a priority in our lives?

The lack of Bibles cannot be an issue - not in 21st century America - when most families (even non-Christians) have more than one Bible in thier house.

The lack of time cannot be an excuse either - as we find time for everything else we want to do, such as watching TV, going to the movies, surfing the web, or even reading other books and magazines.

The only excuse that might hold any validity for me - is the people who say that they don't understand the Bible - therefore they don't read it. I agree that many parts of the Bible are hard to understand - I have trouble with many passages - that's part of why I set up this blog - to talk about the hard issues.

But let's look at this excuse from another perspective: Would you avoid your spouse - or one of your best friends - simply because you didn't understand something they said? Well - some people will - but most of us will ask that person what they mean - we'll investigate further - we'll learn more about them - until we do understand. Shouldn't the same be true for God? Shouldn't we seek to understand what he's telling us?

Personally, I believe that as we read through the Bible, pray for insight and understanding, and talk about our questions and concerns and joyful findings with our Christian brothers and sisters, that we will grow closer to God and more fully understand his will for our lives - and how that will impact our community and our world.

I'm praying that God will bless our church as we read through the Bible. Will you join me in that prayer? AMEN.