"...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby..." I Peter 2:2

Welcome to "Read and Heed the Word" my first venture into the blogosphere! I am still not quite certain how all this is done so please forgive me if these early efforts are a little rough around the edges!

As we begin, I would like to invite you to join me this year in an exciting Bible reading program that is designed to give us a balanced diet of the word and to encourage us to interact with one another and with the Lord as we spend regular devotional and reading time in the Word of God. As you read remember the exhortation of James 1:22 which says, "...be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Hence the name of our Blog, "Read and Heed the Word". This year our goal is going to be to not only read God's word, but also to be transformed by it. So join me! And let's see what the Lord will do in our hearts and lives as we seek to know Him better through His word!

Our reading plan begins on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 and is devided into three parts:

Part 1. This first part is very devotional in nature. It is very important to spend some time each day, 7 days a week, with the Lord in prayer and meditation. By meditation I simply mean quiet reflection upon God's word, and by prayer I mean, talking and listening to God. It is best to do this at a regular time each day, perhaps in the morning before your day gets underway, or for some their lunch hour might be a better time. Whenever you do it, make sure that you do it. You can start your devotional time with a short prayer asking God's blessing upon the reading of His word and giving thanks for all that He wants to speak to you that day. Then read one chapter from the following books: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Start with Psalm 1 and read one per day during your "Devo" as I like to call it, and keep going with one more each day until you finish Song of Solomon. After you have read your chapter, continue in prayer using the chapter you have just read as a springboard into prayer and worship during this special time with the Lord. If you do this you will have read through these "Poetic" books twice in the span of one year. I think you will be richly blessed in this and your prayer time will be enriched with the beautiful praises and wisdom of God's word.

Part 2 is your Old Testament reading. This can be done at the same time as your Devo, or it can be done at any other convienient time during the day. Read 1 chapter from the Old Testament each day, five days a week, Monday - Friday. Start in Genesis Chapter 1 and work your way all the way through Malachi, skipping the Poetic books as you will have already read these during your "Devo" time. If you do this you will have read all the way through the Old Testament in the span of two years.

Part 3, like part 2 is to be done Monday through Friday. This is your reading of the New Testament. Here you have a choice to make. Starting in Matthew Chapter 1 read either 1 or 2 chapters per day and work your way through to the end of Revelations. If you read one chapter per day you will make your way through the New Testament once this year. If you read two chapters per day you will have read it twice.

To sum up the plan, Monday through Friday you will read one chapter in the poetic books during your "Devo" time, 1 chapter of the Old Testament, and 1 or 2 chapters of the New Testament. That means that Monday - Friday you will be reading 3 or 4 chapters of your Bible. On the weekend, you will read only 1 chapter per day during your Devo time. However, if you did not keep up with your Old and New Testament reading during the week you can use the weekend to catch up!

One or two last things before I close today. First, don't get discouraged, even if you fall behind, just pick up that Bible and try again. It isn't nearly as important that you keep up as it is that you keep trying. Keep reading your Bible and spending time in prayer and trust God to bring the Spiritual growth in your life. Lastly, I really recomend that you use a journal or notebook of some kind to write down your observations as you go. Feel free to use this blog site to share your thoughts and insights as we go. I hope that you are looking forward to this as much as I am! May the Lord bless you as we read His word together!