This year, as a previous year, I am reading through the Scripture in one year using the Message by Eugene Peterson. I don't always agree with his choice of words but do appreciate the vernacular which makes some passages that in other texts, which have a stilted ring, to have a vitality. There have been things that in my almost half a century as a Christian have blown by me.

       The text makes reading go quickly and lingering longer is not a bore. Yes, I said "bore." Sometimes the very nature of content and story line or lack of story line makes the needle point to "Boring" when reading scripture. BUT... then again the Scripture is NOT for my entertainment but for my edification...for my spiritual enhancement.

       We must remember the Bible is not an ordinary book. "Holy men" were born along, carried by the Spirit of God to use their circumstances and their vocabularies to pen the book over centuries. The Bible is not on a par with secular books. It is not some icon to be worship but rather a means to assist our worship and understanding of God.This is the opportunity for not only God to speak but for us to listen.

       You don't have to wait for January 1st to start a "through the Bible " in 1 year. Today is a good day to start. The "One Year Bibles" abound at the Christian book store and you can always do the "day free home trial"  which is to take a section like the Epistle of I John and read it through each day for 30 days and then move on to another book. You will read the entire New Testament this way, retaining its revelation in two and one half years. God is alive and He is talking. Are you listening?