50 Days at 30,000 feet

About 2 weeks ago we started a challenge with our church, to read through the New Testament in the 50 days leading up to Easter.  I personally believe that reading the Bible and knowing what it says is one of the greatest things that anyone can do to build their faith in God, and live a meaningful life.  The Bible truly contains the Words of Life.

It may sound like a daunting task to accomplish in 7 weeks, but when you actually break it down it is really only about 25-30 minutes a day of reading (depending on your pace).   We have even factored in two "grace days" each week that give a way for people to catch up on what they had missed, or even get ahead if they know that the days ahead are going to be busy.  It really isn't that intense of a schedule.

Think of it like this:  how much time do you spend per day just browsing people's Facebook status', or reading your Twitter feed?  I would be willing to be that it is around 25-30 minutes over the day, especially if you have FB and Twitter on your phone.  Think about it...if you took that time and invested it in reading the Bible you could read the entire New Testament simply re-prioritizing the time you already spend.  You can even read the Bible on your phone with an app like Bible by YouVersion.  Or even still, have that app stream an audio Bible to you in the car on your commute.  That will take your traffic skills to a whole nutha level!

One thing that I have observed in reading such extended sections of the Bible in a short amount of time, is what I call the 30,000 foot effect.  Usually when us Christians read the Bible, we are studying, looking deep for things we can apply to our lives.  This is a great practice, however when we stare at the details that close we often loose sight of the big picture of Scripture...the overall narrative of what God was doing through the whole book.  When you look out the window of a plane from high altitude you really can get a better perspective of the land.  You can see how cities connect, how natural features work together, and so on.  When you read the Bible by taking larger portions at one sitting, and doing that for 50 days, you get a new view on how God works, and how the stories and teachings work together.  It really is awesome.

I want to invite you to join me on this challenge.  You may not finish it by Easter, but when it comes to reading the Word of God, it isn't about a checklist, or time frame.  It is about knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ!  

Here is a link to the plan:  http://cpnorthshore.com/index.php/archives/1757