Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A New Attempt to read the Bible in a Year: Genesis 1,2,3 & Matthew 1

I was recently inspired to attempt to read the Bible in a year. I have started this process many times in my life. I don’t have adequate excuses as to why I never accomplished it. I have no explanation why I never read the Bible cover to cover in my twenty years of walking with God.

One thing I want to make sure about this new goal is that what I read sinks in. I don’t want to be reading it just to “get through” my reading for each day. I really do want some revelations to come from this study. Over the course of my life I’m sure I have read most of the Bible, but I’m praying that with this study it becomes new all over again.

My goal is to blog everyday about what I’m learning through the readings. I’m sure I won’t be perfect in this goal, but I believe that it will help me overall.

I’ve chosen a Bible in a Year plan by HEARTLIGHT® Internet Magazine - http://www.heartlight.org. Each day has a portion of scripture from the Old and New Testament. For the most part, this reading plan goes straight through each book of the Bible. I like this because I want to keep things in context. I don’t want my reading for each day to be so random that I lose the context of each passage of scripture.

The reading for today comes from Genesis 1, 2, 3 and Matthew 1.

In Genesis 1, I was once again in awe of our God who has existed since the beginning of time. It’s so past my comprehension. He has always been there. For me, my life began with my first breath. For God, he has always been around. It was he that created this spectacular earth that I live on. Each and every thing was created by him.

As I read about God creating “light” and separating light from darkness, I started thinking about the wonder of light. Light is something I take so for granted. When I wake up in the morning, I expect the sun to rise…it’s just the natural progression of a day. It’s funny to think of a time that existed without light or darkness.

Not only did God create light and darkness, but he created such beautiful ways for them to begin and end each day. Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular things. I remember once, standing on a beach, watching the sun crawl up into the sky. The clouds glowed a beautiful orange color. The air was crisp, the beach quiet. It was a time for me and my God. Together we greeted the day and all the spectacular things in store.

Sometimes I feel insignificant in this big world God has created. Then I am reminded of Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” I am created in the very image of God. How wonderful to be reminded that I do have a purpose: to worship my creator, my God with everything that I am. I can get so caught up looking at my imperfect self. Instead, I need to be looking toward my perfect Creator God who makes no mistakes in his creation. He credited all of his creation as being “good,” so who am I to argue?

God created human beings and determined specific order of life. A husband & wife would come together and conceive children, who would then grow and bring glory to God with their lives and reproduce more offspring. This has been the order of life since Adam and Eve. In the gospel of Matthew we see the one and only exception. In Matthew 1:20 an angel appears to Joseph and says, “Joseph, son of David…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.”

The Virgin Birth is such a spectacular story, and the only one of it’s kind. Right from the beginning God was showing how significant this birth would be. He could have just had Jesus conceived the normal way… but he chose not too. Since the beginning, he determined that Jesus’ human birth into the world would be a miraculous one. A young, virgin would be the mother of the Christ. It must have been a wondrous thing to watch her belly grow, and contemplate who was living inside, the Savior of the world. Such responsibility was on Mary’s shoulders, but such blessing as well. For she was just an imperfect human being, yet she was chosen to be the mother of the Christ-child.

Questions: What strikes you as amazing about the Creation story in Genesis 1-3? What specific lessons does God have for you here?
What do you find the most appealing in Genesis 1?
How can you apply these lessons to your daily life?

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for creating this wonderful earth we live in. Help me to be thankful for everything in it, big and small. Also, thank you for sending your Son into the world to forgive me of my sins and give me eternal life. Help me to take the lessons I learned today to heart, and to serve you with all that I am.

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