It is January 1, 2010, and that means that all across the world, people have celebrated the end of one year and the beginning of another. Each year, thousands of people set yearly goals and resolve to achieve them. Some of the more common goals include losing weight, getting in shape, dropping a bad habit (ie: smoking, drinking, etc.), improve a character flaw (ie: overcome a bad temper, be more caring, etc.), improve financial or in the work place, and better one’s spiritual life.
Today, I would like to share with you some resources for the latter. At the beginning of the year, many Christians resolve to spend more time in God’s Word through reading and/or Bible study. Even if you are not the type to set New Year’s Resolutions, spending more time with the Lord through study should be a daily priority in the life of every follower of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Daily Sabbath School Lesson
The simplest way of digging into the Bible is to dedicate 10 to 20 minutes of your day to review the daily lesson in your Sabbath School quarterly. If you do not have a quarterly, the lessons for all age groups are available online at Sabbath School & Personal Ministries website. The weekly lessons are broken down into a devotional-like reading, study, activity for each day.
Devotionals
If the Sabbath School lesson is not enough or does not focus on the area that you need, you should try a devotional. Devotionals are designed for different people (for teens, men, or women), focusing on all kinds of topics, and even available in different ways (books, videos, podcasts). You should visit a Christian bookstore near you and browse the devotional section, or check out these places online:
- Adventist Book Center – an online store with a huge Devotional section broken into daily devotionals and theme-based devotionals.
- A Better Way to Live – A daily video by Shawn Boonstra of It Is Written.
Bible Reading Plan
A common way to read more of the Bible is to use a method for reading the entire Bible through.
- Read the Bible in a Year – From Sabbath School Network, read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
- One Year Bible Online – Offers two methods: The One year Bible plan has daily readings taken from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs for a varied and fresh approach. The One Year Chronological Bible plan arranges the entire text of the Bible in the order the events occurred.
- YouVersion.com – Sign up with this site for free and get access to 20+ Bible reading plans.
Bible Study Series
If a casual reading of the Bible is not enough for you, if you have questions and seek answers, then you may want to look into a Bible Study series instead. Check out these free Bible Studies available online:
- Amazing Discoveries – Videos and materials on a wide variety of Biblical topics including the great controversy, health, world religions, and more.
- Amazing Facts – An international media ministry with video, free books, and Bible studies available.
- Beyond Patmos – A Christian broadcast site with archives of dozens of video series covering a wide variety of Biblical topics and by many different speakers.
- Bible Universe
- Discover Online – A very popular website which has a wide variety of studies for all ages and in different languages. I suggest you start with their signature series: Discover Bible Guides.
- Discovery Courses
- Inspirited Network – interactive Bible studies.
- It Is Written – An international media ministry with videos, materials, and studies available.
Feel free to share your New Year’s resolutions and any resources I may have missed by commenting below. In 2010, may we all draw closer to the Lord. As it is written:
“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:6-9, English Standard Version
Need more inspirational? Check out this video, Sharpening Your Sword by It Is Written.
