40 Days of Delight!
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he does meditate day and night. And he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does will prosper."
Psalm 1:2-3
This first psalm starts with the word, "blessed." It then reveals the negative aspect of NOT walking in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standing in the way of sinners, nor sitting in the seat of the scornful. But! his delight... This negative process goes from walking to standing to sitting. It stops all movement and ends with one resting idle with a scornful attitude. It starts with walking in the counsel of the ungodly. Contrasted with that, God says the blessed man delights in the law or counsel of the Lord.
There is a marked difference between the intake of each and the resulting outcome of each. The first takes in ungodly counsel leading to scornfulness. The second enjoys the counsel of the Lord leading to fruitfulness.
It is with this is mind that we start this series that I've titled, "40 Days of Delight!" (I didn't realize that there was a whole ministry with that title when I planned this.) For me, the thought came from the phrase, "his delight is in the law of the Lord." I thought, "What if we did a Bible-reading saturation season." I reasoned that we could read through the New Testament in forty days, not including Sundays.
The average reading will include up to eight chapters on some days and as few as three on others. I realize that if one is going to read like, they will rarely have time to do in-depth study. But that is the point. This is not intended to be a time for verse by verse scrutiny, rather the view is to get a "large picture" view of the New Testament by reading substantial portions of text each day.
Isaiah 55 says,
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
Notice how the rain and snow water the earth and cause it to bring forth and bud. This is the concept behind saturation reading. Like rain and snow there is an amount of run-off. Likewise the reader is not expected to remember every single thing they read. They will, however, become immersed in the Word of God. And God says that the same way that rain brings forth, so His Word will accomplish His purpose where He sends it. He will be the one who brings out those things that He has buried in the heart of the believer in seed stage and cause those dormant plants to flourish.
I realize that for some it is a challenge to commit to an ambitious goal. To those I would say then read what you can. There is a principle in the Old Testament that when the children of Israel went out each morning to collect manna in the wilderness each would accumulate according to his eating. So if you can't "eat" the whole amount, set your own goal. Make it as challenging as you dare, remembering that the purpose is to delight in the word of God.
We'll begin reading together on the 8th of January and finish on February 22nd. I plan to post my devotions through this blog as we progress together. So for the next six weeks, I urge you to join me as we delight in the law of the Lord together and look for fruit that lasts!
To see the reading plan: http://www.waynesvillelife.com/calendar
