January Bible

Dearest You . . . Thought I’d come alongside you to welcome in a year of fresh starts together.  I have an old Bible and a new journal so I’m ready.  But let’s not fade into Christmas-past mode just yet – it’s the Christmas-keeping that will get us through the next 365.

It’s the old story that never gets old and one that we should never get over ~ the birth of the Savior. We know it so well because we’ve heard it repeatedly.  But that doesn’t mean that we know it well.

It’s told in two of the four gospels —  Matthew, the tax collector-follower focuses on a first chapter of genealogy and royal line of David, then skips the shepherds to write about the Magi visit.  Luke, writes his account after careful investigation with a detailed mind of a physician-follower, focused on Christ as savior and takes us to the shepherd field and adoration scenes.

So I decided to journal the “Christmas story” instead of just assuming I knew it as good as I ever will.  It’s amazing what we discover when we write the written Word.  It comes alive on weary pages. We can jump into the fearful-skin of Zacharias while in the temple when told his barren wife will birth the forerunner to the Messiah, and tremble and ponder with teenage-peasant Mary when she is told something holy will happen within her womb, or feel as terrified as the shepherds when they are overcome with the brilliance of glory.  To see the wonder, hear the sounds and smell the manger – this is why I journal.

The same wonder can be found in your story when you write it down.  What are some of the 2025 moments that shaped your faith this past year?  It’s important to pause and recognize the unforgettables that can fade with time, the ones that tested, stretched and strengthened should be logged to secure your faith.  And mine . . .

We stand at the end and the beginning.  But time is just time – and what do we do with the here. May we not waste a moment. God is waiting to show us so much more within the Word He has written and preserved for us. So much that we won’t reach the end . . .

Many of us may have a January Bible — the one that gets dusted off and noticed in the beginning of each year.  Our heart’s intention is to read through this time, but our path gets highjacked somewhere in the mix of genealogies and laws.  And yet, it’s all there to prove it isn’t a fable but the historic account of real people in real time.

The tool that fixes brokenness is the Word of God.  See for yourself, how Psalms brings healing and Proverbs brings wisdom.  The answers we need for life can only be found somewhere in the Old and the New.  I know it’s true – because mine is falling apart with answers.

A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.  Charles Spurgeon.

I love that there is a surge of Gen Z and Millennials that are reading Scripture –  it’s encouraging there is genuine seeking whether for curiosity, conviction or conversion.

If we’re waiting for things to get better, we have to learn to wait well.  That happens within an opened Bible.

Christ is born for dearest you ~ may we be faithful to run to the presence of the Lord, to a Bible filled with miracles and a journal to record them.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, then you will make your way prosperous.  Joshua 1:8