A Very Different Bible Reading Plan for the New Year
January 1st, 2007 at 11:55 pm (Uncategorized)
Happy New Year to everyone!
I decided to just talk through this blog entry instead of typing it out. So please listen to the MP3 below to hear the essence of this Bible reading idea.
The following is a quote from John MacArthur on the motive for knowing God’s Word. It’s not to puff us up, it’s to build us up so that we can build up others so that God is glorified.
I remember when I was a student in seminary I came across a little book written by James M. Gray who at that time was the president of the Moody Bible Institute at the time he wrote the book, long since with the Lord. The title of the little book was “How to Master the Bible.” He titled it “How to Master the English Bible” And I got that little book and I devoured that little book because I had a desire in my heart to master as much as was humanly possible the Bible, not so that I could walk around saying I have all the facts, but so that I could have a foundation on which to build my life, so that there would never come in my life any issue, any circumstance that I wouldn’t be ready to handle because if the foundation was down and if all the principles were there, I could draw on those principles. And in another metaphor it’s like…it’s like banking all the truth of God, putting it in the bank and at any given point you can draw out what you need because it’s banked, it’s deposited, it’s in your account, in your heart and your soul and your mind. And the Scripture then is profitable as that body of doctrine on which every action and every thought is to be built.
Here’s a good summary of James Gray’s book “How to Master the English Bible”. Read that to have a fuller picture of the study method I recommend. Click here to buy a copy of the book.
Click here to buy MacArthur’s “How to Get the Most out of God’s Word” which has been retitled “Unleashing God’s Word in your Life”. The PDF file below is a short, but captivating excerpt from a MacArthur sermon where he details the benefits of using this Bible reading method.
Tony on reading the Bible: Downloads 128
MacArthur on Reading the Bible: Downloads 357