New Year is a great time for Christians to take a fresh look at their personal Bible reading & devotional time.

For example, we’ve launched the First Your Word initiative to ‘support each other in a community of Bible reading to grow a culture of Scripture feeding’. Many of us are using the ‘Read Through the Bible’ plan on Youversion’s free ‘Bible’ app, which crucially includes audio Bible!

Over the last week or so I’ve been trying to pick people’s brains for as much advice as I can on making Bible reading a regular rhythm – and I’ve shared 11 ‘tips’ or ways to develop & sustain that habit over at Premier Christianity’s website. Of the 11 tips, #2 & #4 have been pretty liberating for me already this year!

You can visit Premier Christianity and read the article by clicking here.

As a guest opinion piece, it’s encouraging for me that Premier have published it. So if you find the article helpful, could you take a moment to pass it on or share it on socials?

If you’re interested in using the same plan as us, just follow the instructions on the graphic above.

I think the whole ‘New Year Resolutions’ thing has potential to be an exhausting exercise that ends up burdening people with guilt. But there’s undoubtedly value in using the natural marker of a new year to ‘take stock’.

As I’ve written about before, I think it can be very easy to ‘reason your season’ – to excuse the ‘state of affairs’ in which we find ourselves. Instead, it’s helpful to consider where we find ourselves and the trajectory we’re on. As Christians, we do that rooted in Christ, resting in God’s grace, and reliant on His Spirit for change.

So why not make some space in your diary over the new year period? Save the image below to your phone. Find somewhere you’ll be undisturbed. Put your favourite music on, pour yourself a drink, and grab a pen and your Bible. Just use what’s helpful in the time you have.

And let’s pray that as we reflect on our lives, we’d be more conscious of his grace, more dependent upon his Spirit, more committed to his people, and more willing to ‘abound in the work of the Lord’, knowing our labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).