Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and its National Bible Week!
Welcome to Joni and Friends. This is going to be a great week as we touch on some really good principles of studying God's Word. And let me say right up front I have got the neatest resource I want to send you. It’s a beautiful full-color, 14-page foldout called, “How to Study the Bible,” and Ken and I love using it. Ever since January, my husband and I have been reading through the Bible in a year, and right now we’re in the New Testament in the Book of Acts. This is the sixth year we have done this together and it is nothing short of amazing how God has blessed us, encouraged and inspired us, comforted us, and convicted us of sins we never even knew we had! All from spending time in the Word plus, as we’ve been reading, we’ve been keeping a commentary close by and looking up words and places and maps.
As we were reading in Acts just yesterday, Ken and I were commenting on how Paul’s missionary journeys are taking him to all these incredible places that you read about in the Old Testament—to ancient nations that, at one time, were fierce enemies of Judah. And then there is Philip! We just finished reading how God sent him to preach to the eunuch from Ethiopia; well, we flipped back in the Bible and Ethiopia is the ancient land of Sheba, where the Queen of Sheba lived. Ken and I were saying to each other how wonderful it is that reading through the Bible in a year helps us see the whole picture, the big story. Honestly, we’re better able to understand the way God has moved in the lives of His people over the ages. And I'll tell you something else reading through the Bible this year has done for us…
It’s made the Word of God much more part of our everyday conversation. Like on Sundays. I mean, you wouldn’t believe how many times in the Old Testament God talks about the importance of keeping the Sabbath. Now, I know that God created the Sabbath for us and not us for the Sabbath; and I also know that we are not under the law like the Israelites were; but still, we are commanded to honor the law. And so on Sundays, rather than going to the mall, or catching up on office work, or shopping for food for the week, Ken and I are just, well … we’re just a little more careful about how we spend the Sabbath. Usually, nowadays, I spend the time listening to sermons from Francis Chan’s website or John Piper’s website, or reading the blogs on gospelcoalition.org. It’s amazing how spending time in the Word just changes what you do, and think, and decide; without us hardly even realizing it!
All this to say that my husband Ken and I would love for you to join us in reading through the Bible in a year come January 2013. And like we did this year, we’ll be reading it through chronologically. So, please consider joining us. You can go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org to download the chronological Bible schedule. It’s all on just two pages; and you can copy it front-to-back, fold it, and just tuck it in your Bible for reference. And I encourage you to sign up so I can email you every now and then about what Ken and I are learning; just a way of us cheering you on as together we read through the Bible in a year. And while you’re on my radio page at joniandfriends.org, don’t forget to ask for your free copy of “How to Study the Bible.” I'll be praying that God will really speak to your heart about reading through all of God's Word with us in 2013. That’s not too far off, so be sure to go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org, download your chronological reading schedule and sign up to receive emails for me and Ken. I promise that as you read through the Bible in a year with us in 2013 it will be a huge blessing!
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