A Good Start

It's easier to end the year well if you begin it that way.  I'm off to a good start.  Part of my resolution for the coming year is to read the Bible daily and then to journal on it.  (Somedays I'll listen to the bible on my iPhone instead of reading.)  Most of the time I'll publish the journal here.  Sometimes, if the thoughts are too private, I'll just journal and keep it to myself.  

Yesterday I read Genesis 1 & 2, Psalms 1 & 2 and Matthew 1 & 2

Today I read Genesis 3 & 4, Psalms 3 & 4 and Matthew 3 & 4

I'm reading from The Message translation.  Most of my bible study, and all of my seminary study, was done with the New Revised Standard Version.  So I'm reading an unfamiliar translation to allow God to speak to me in a new voice.  I'm already finding that my appreciation for Eugene Peterson's translation (he's the author of The Message) allows me to slow down and hear in a new way.  If I read Genesis 1 in the NRSV, I'd be tempted to fly through it.  I can qoute it from heart, "In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void."  I just wrote that from memory.  It rolls off my tongue with the same ease of the Lord's Prayer.  I place as much high value on Genesis 1:1 as I do on the prayer Jesus taught us.  However, the rote nature of both allow my ADD mind to wander far to easily.  

Now read The Message version of Genesis 1:1-2a, "First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness"  I don't know about you, but that speaks to me in a different way.  It places an emphasis on the beginning with the words "first this."  Instead of giving it an historical focus, it helps us see that the heart of God is first and foremost about creating.  God creates order out of chaos.  God creates something about of nothing.  If God can do this, and this is at the heart of God, what limit could there possibly be to what God can do in my heart?  

I ask you to harass me when I've failed to post an update to my blog.  I need that accountability as I try to keep up both my Bible reading and journaling.  

One resource you might want to try for your own Bible reading is www.youversion.com.  You'll find a link in the right hand column.  It's a great way for you to read theBible, do a secure online journal, read what others have gotten out of their Bible reading.  Hope this helps you.