The first part of “30 days to Wisdom” will work like so:

Each day we will have a short reading from the Gospel of John in the Bible. The book of John is one of the most descriptive of the four gospels about Jesus’ life. It also reveals the most about Jesus’ personality and character.

“Why are we skipping to the middle/end of the Bible? Doesn’t Jesus come into the picture a long way into the history of man’s relationship with God?

Most of us who are new to the faith have similar New Year’s resolutions. I’ve done this a few times, so let me know if it sounds familiar.

“I am going to get my life straight and am going to read the Bible cover-to-cover. Woo-hoo!”

Guess where I would always start with my Bible study?

That’s right - in Genesis - page 1 of the big book! I would then read through the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Joseph with rapidity; tearing through the pages. “Man, this is actually pretty cool!” Maybe I would even get to the Book of Exodus and read about Moses and the Jewish people’s escape from Egypt.

Then… I got to Leviticus, the book where God’s laws for his people are laid down. At this point the action bogs down and I quickly nodded off to either metaphorical or literal sleep. The Bible then returned to the dusty shelf.

Studying the Bible this way only teaches us that God gave us a huge book of rules that are largely irrelevant to our life. There are also some very serious parts in the Old Testament where we see the wrath of God. Unless we have the entire picture of God’s history with man and his covenants with us, we misunderstand God’s character and purpose for how we fit into this universe.

The Bible is actually completely relevant to every action we take and thought we hold captive. Don’t get me wrong - the entire book is the word of God, and we WILL get back to the Old Testament, but first we need to know about the current covenant with our Lord and find out more about God’s character and personality (not the right word, but you know what I mean)

How will we find out about God’s character? Face it - we will not see the spirit of God with these human eyes. It just can’t be done - our sins make it so. However we CAN find out about God’s “personality” through his son, Jesus.

We’ve heard the phrase, “Like father, like son”. It could be no more true in the example of God and his Son. Jesus contained every part of God’s character and being through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the perfect example of what God wishes for us to be on this earth.

This is why we will start with one chapter a day reading about Jesus’ life. Yes… I know you can read more than one chapter. We are not reading for “mileage” though. We will be taking our time with each chapter, letting it soak deep into our spirit.

How to conduct our daily reading for Maximum Effectiveness

• Set aside time every day for just God and nothing else. God says in his word,
  

  Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

  This means our husband, wife, kids, neighbors, and friends will have to take a back seat for a few minutes (unless of course they want to join us!) Seriously, if we are too busy to give God 30 minutes, then we need to prune our life, or reorder our priorities.

• Pray before we start that God will give us wisdom and insight through the Holy Spirit so that we can understand his word.
• Read through the chapter once for comprehension. Keep a pen and make a mark when we do not understand a part. Get a copy of e-sword (free) on your computer or get a good study bible so you can look up some of the stickier parts.

  If we still can not find the answer, we may check out places like gotquestions.org or email any of the ministries listed in our resource section. I’m not saying they will be 100% right, but they will at least be able to point us in the right direction. God will help us sort it all out over time.

That’s it for part 1 - one small chapter of the book of John per day as we read the most vivid description of Jesus’ life and get to know Jesus’ personality (and the character of God). Sounds simple enough!

The next post will share about “the beginning of wisdom”. I can’t wait!

I would be completely remiss if I did not explain how you can be saved. If you are not yet a Christian, and do not have a relationship with God and the gift of the Holy Spirit, please click here to find out how you may become a child of God and receive eternal life.

God bless. See you tomorrow - bring a friend!

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