2010 is only a few days away and you know what that means: New Year’s Resolutions.
And if you are like many Christians, you resolve that you are going to finally buckle down and read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, in one year.
That’s admirable. Really. I’m just not really a fan of “through the Bible in a year” reading plans.
I know. Seems almost heretical. But here’s why: In wrestling with these resolutions each year, I finally had a wake-up call of sorts. I realized that it isn’t important whether or not I devote myself to getting through the Bible in a year. What’s important is whether or not the Bible gets through me this year. And that requires more than just devotion; it requires meditation.
The Psalmist says, “How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night” (vv. 1-2, NET).
In order for information to make it past your working memory and into long-term storage, you have to wrestle with it a bit. This is called encoding, and without it there is no learning. Brain Rules author Dr. John Medina says, “The more a learner focuses on the meaning of the presented information, the more elaborately the encoding is processed.” Meditation is like supercharged encoding.
So let me offer a slightly different “resolution” for your consideration: How about simply resolving that you will spend some time each day meditating on some verse or passage from Scripture? And if you want to do that in order, beginning with Genesis, that’s awesome. Just take your time, chew long and hard, and savor every morsel of God’s Truth.
Have a Blessed New Year!