This challenge is simple. Read your bible this March. One month one book. Pretty simple.

I have two requests
1) Please journal your thoughts (email them to me or post them here)
2) Write down your questions, objections, promises, etc.

The basic premise is also simple. The premise is that the scriptures belong on the forefront of your mind and not the back burner. Jeff Bingham (a professor I respect from Dallas Sem) said ,“The most important thought you will ever think is what you think when you think about God because it will determine every other dimension of your existence.”

What isn't simple about the challenge is the many things we have built into our lives that we feel are more important than our thoughts on God. Not that we would ever say they are more important than our thoughts on God, but we live that way. This month will challenge those things.

It will also bring a new freshness to our knowledge of the sweetness of God’s word. Psalm 19 tells us that scripture is sweeter and honey and more valuable than gold. I think it’s easy to say that scripture is sweeter than honey because I don’t really use honey. I like it on toast and all, but it’s not a part of my normal life; and it can end up that the sweetness of scripture and honey are both relegated to the occasional breakfast. And gold, I don’t have gold. I’ve never owned gold. I know it’s valuable and all, but I would prefer an ATM balance or maybe cold hard cash. So I would affirm that scripture is sweet and valuable, but unfortunately you won’t hear me affirm it very often. This challenge will bring a constant conflict to what I think about the bible. Every day as I’m faced with participating in my daily routine or spending time in the scriptures I will be confronted with the idea: What do I really think about the sweetness of the word of God?

I hope this challenge shows us that the differences between gold and cash are not just semantic; they are organic. I hope we all sing a new song about the sweetness of scripture. I hope that this challenge demonstrates again for all of us the truth that the scriptures are sweeter than honey or splenda or chocolate or a morning latte or Mikuni sushi; and it is more valuable than an ATM balance, a television show, a meeting, or even Facebook.

What to expect:

This is a very difficult challenge, but really it doesn’t take that much time. Do the math. If there are 775,000 words in the bible and the average adult 300 words per minute (source). It would take 2,584 minutes or 43 hours. That’s less than an hour and a half a day (if you read that fast). I find that I can’t read the scripture that fast. It takes me a lot longer.

One suggestion:

I do suggest having a simple bible dictionary near you at all times so you can find names, places, and events quickly. It will help tremendously.