Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the Heavens (Psalm 119:89)
Have you ever thought about a reading program for Scripture? There are several different approaches. If you were to read 3-4 chapters a day you could read the entire Bible through in one year. However, some people have decided that this is too much to do at one sitting (say, for example, 30 minutes in the morning). They have instead thought of reading just a Psalm or some smaller unit of Scripture. This is perhaps the better choice and most people should opt for something along these lines.
But there is yet another choice—one that is more helpful for those who are more zealous and for those who sustain a teaching ministry. The Old Testament can be read in larger chunks each week as you have time. The NT, on the other hand, can be read repetitively. The point here is to take a letter of the NT, such as Galatians, and read it through at one sitting. Do this each day for a month or so. At the end of that month, you will have an understanding of the whole message of Galatians and chances are, you will not forget it, at least not as easily. Verses that were once obscure, will become clear in the light of their immediate and remote contexts. In any case, you can do this for all the books in the NT, breaking up the longer books and letters into smaller, manageable units. For example, Matthew could be broken up into four units of seven chapters each; Revelation into two units of seven and one of eight, or two units of five and two of six. Read each unit once a day for thirty days. This means that at the end you will have spent about 120 days in Matthew. At this rate you can finish the entire NT in about 3 years. But…and this is a big difference, you will probably understand what you read and you will be inclined to remember it too! How cool is that?
We can hear Scripture read or preached. We can read it for ourselves. We can also memorize it so that we can have it available at any instant for meditation, evangelism, spiritual warfare, and encouragement. Though memorization requires effort, perseverance, and a plan of attack, the benefits are enormous and well surpass the investment. The reader is encouraged to check out the scripture memory program we have at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
Our primary posture toward God’s word is the same posture we should have before him. As Isaiah says, God esteems the one who is contrite in spirit and who trembles at his word (Isa 66:2b). We are to come before him in humility, open to receive, and wanting to receive instruction, correction, rebuke and encouragement. Let the word of God read you and speak to your needs. Through meditation ask God to show you his will in his word. He will do it.