From Garden to City
Today is the first day of a Bible reading plan that I am pretty excited about. And, for this season of Lent I have decided take on this year-long reading plan, which is great because there’s no way I could give up meat or sweets…or coffee! I am far too weak for such sacrifice.
I have set out many times to take on yearly Bible plans. Granted, I have read the Bible several times but for the past few years I’ve noticed that I tend to stick to my favorite areas, like Paul’s epistles…or Paul’s epistles. Breaking my trend and reading the Good Book from cover to cover in one year is an idea that has always appealed to me.
There was the specialized Daily Bible that was popular in the early 90’s. I tried it, but was still in junior high and had not yet discovered my passion for reading; then came high school and the year-long Chronological Bible. As it turned out, for me anyway, it was a cool idea but required too much personal discipline. I got bogged down in Numbers, and eventually put it back on the shelf for good.
When I was in YWAM, there was yet another 365-day plan to read through the Bible. Each day had a reading, a prayer focus for a different societal sphere of influence (e.g. government, education, business, etc.), and each week highlighted a different unreached people group for further prayer. It was set up like a journal so you could write thoughts and prayers throughout the year. While the YWAM prayer journal was a great tool for some, it proved too complicated for me. After a couple weeks of falling behind and promising myself I’d read ten chapters a day to catch up, I stopped.
So last night NCC had a GREAT worship service and launched the reading plan. They’re calling it “From Garden to City.” What really appeals to me about this plan, over any gimmicky one I’ve tried before, is that it contains one crucial element the others did not: community. We are reading together. The more I grow as a Christian, the more I understand that my faith is not built on my own efforts so much as it is fortified through fellowship with other believers.
For more information on National Community Church’s Bible reading plan, you can visit the reading plan’s website.
