being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Philippians 1:6, NKJV
God is faithful indeed. I've experienced elements of the above verse play out in different seasons of life, and just earlier this morning I caught a glimpse of a YouTube video one of my housemates was watching where it talked about how trials and tribulations are hallmarks of following Christ, due to simply being in this world. (I believe it was from the YouTube channel "Grace For Purpose", in fact!)
My check-in to start 2024 involves beginning another Bible reading plan which I intend to follow for the rest of this year. I've done previous attempts in 2013 (faithfully and successfully) and 2022 (unfaithfully and unsuccessfully), both with my best friend from college that I still keep in touch with on a regular basis. I did invite this same friend to join me this time. Although he declined (for now), he did mention that he had been meaning to spend a whole year praying every day at least once a day. We've agreed to hold each other accountable for our respective disciplines and have created a spreadsheet to keep track and see how the other person is doing.
Moreover, as I began this time, I felt the Holy Spirit mention the importance of including my love with me in this particular Bible-reading program. We're doing it together, reading it separately but our goal is to find time each day to come together and talk about what we read and pray together. We're still finding our rhythm as to timing and availability, but it is a goal we are pressing toward.
One final thing I will share about this is that, unlike previous "January 1st" resolutions and disciplines, this doesn't feel like a brand-new start. Rather, how this discipline is sitting with me is that it is a continuation of what I've been doing since last March, when God called me out for having drifted from Him over the previous year. Since mid-March, I've been developing a daily devotional and prayer discipline (via the YouVersion app on my phone), as well as a second prayer/devotional discipline, most of which have lasted anywhere between 3, 5, 7 days. In December I signed up for an Advent devotional, which lasted 27 days (I began it late, so its last day was December 30th instead of Christmas Eve, which is when I believe it was designed to end).
As a result, embarking on a 365-day Bible-reading discipline (once again, reading the Bible chronologically from front-to-end), in light of all that I've shared above, doesn't feel nearly as daunting as I think previous attempts have. One big change over the recent years is the realization (and application thereof) that Bible-reading is not like a class with an end date where the reward is a vacation where I can be a lazy bump on a log for an indeterminate period of time. Daily Bible-reading and daily prayer, etc. needs to be a life habit. In theory (and in practice), there should be no "days off," or at least, no attitude where we take "vacations" from spending time with God. That's not good. That's not right.
Christianity is first and foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ. The world calls Christianity a religion and puts it on the same level as other religions. By structure, Christianity is a religion. But by practice and by experience, it is so much more than a religion; it is a relationship. And just like any relationship, whether with your parents, or your spouse, or your children, you have to spend time with them in order 1.) for the relationship to grow, 2.) for the relationship to flourish, and 3.) for either of you to really impact the other person's life. Salvation is an excellent (and critical) first step. But receiving Jesus as your Lord, King, and Master is also critical. That means there's a relationship there. And one of the big impacts of this is that God will transform your life and sanctify you. A big part is indeed conforming your life with God's Word (which He will gladly help you with!). But there's a greater transformation that He will do in you and through you, throughout the rest of your life. For this reason, Christianity is a relationship and not only a religion.
And so, I have a lot more hope for sticking with the yearlong Bible discipline this time around. 1.) I see this as a continuation on what I've already been doing (for almost a year now). 2.) I'm doing this with my sweetheart. And 3.) I've got specific accountability with a friend on maintaining this throughout the year.
Praise the Lord! May 2024 be the best year yet!