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My column today is featured over at LifeWay Voices, a new site with helpful articles and videos. Click here to read the full article, which explains why many Christians start but never finish a Bible reading plan.

It’s the time of year when many Christians are preparing to start a new Bible reading plan. New Year’s resolutions come and go each year, giving us the opportunity to look back at what we committed to last year, and offering a fresh start for something new. Wanting to read the Bible more is a common Christian desire when looking ahead to the new year.

It’s not surprising Christians feel they should read the Bible more. We believe it is the Word of God. It reveals the story of redemption. It contains wisdom from God that, pressed deep into our hearts, helps us to live in ways that bring glory to him. We see Jesus in this book, and through these pages, we grow in our knowledge of the One who loved us and gave his life for us.

Unfortunately, many Christians approach next year’s big commitments for Bible reading with a little trepidation, and perhaps even some guilt. This may be the third or fourth year that they’ve said they want to do a Bible reading plan, an ambitious one that takes them through the Bible in a year, or even a plan with lighter expectations. And yet they’ve found they lapse inevitably after a few weeks or months. “This year will be different,” they say, and they get ready to start a new reading plan. They look at the different options out there (some of which I’ve described before), and settle on one that is going to help them through the year.

Why do so many Christians start with a strong commitment and yet lose their way when reading the Bible? One reason may be that we have too high of an expectation of what we will feel every day when we read.

Read the rest here.

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