Reading your Bible for yourself is a gift and a privilege that we take for granted far too often. In this world where we have all the information of the ages on our cell phones, we neglect the wisdom of God assuming it will be there when we "really need it". But God doesn't want to be a wallflower waiting for us to get done with something else. God wants to be first in our hearts and minds. Reading God's word and reflecting on how God speaks to us through the life of Jesus is one of the first ways we can connect with God.
I'm challenging you to forget about giving up chocolate or other silly Lenten promise - take up something important instead. Take up the practice of spending a little time everyday in God's word.
Each week I will be reflecting on my reading of Matthew and you can add your thoughts or questions in the comments section. Lets do this together and grow in Christ!
Here is a suggested plan:
The Book of Matthew for Lent
28 chapters in 6 weeks.
Focus on creating a daily ritual of reading your Bible &
praying for yourself and others.
Read about a chapter each day.
The last day or two go back and reflect on what you
read - underline or highlight
verses that have special meaning to you.
Week 1
Chapter 1 -
the ancestors of Jesus, recognize any of those names? & birth of Jesus
Chapter 2 -
Wise Men & evil of Herod
Chapter 3 -
John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) and Jesus' baptism
Chapter 4 -
Jesus is tempted then begins his public ministry
Chapter 5
& 6 - The Sermon on the Mount
Most of these are familiar stories - what surprised you this
week?
Week 2
Chapter 7 -
Continuing Sermon on the Mount
Chapter 8 -
Healings & storms stilled
Chapter 9 -
Healings and calling of Matthew
Chapter 10 -
The twelve apostles
Chapter 11 -
Praise for John the Baptist
Lots of healing & calling of followers this week - how
has Jesus healed you? How is he calling you?
Week 3
Chapter 12 -
Lord of the Sabbath
Chapter 13 -
Jesus' Parables
Chapter 14 -
Death of John - walking on water
Chapter 15 -
what defiles? feeding of 4,000
Chapter 16 -
who do you say that I am?
Jesus tells
lots of parables this week - any that were new to you? Think about the question "who do
you say that I am?" from 16: 15.
Who do you think Jesus was & is?
Week 4
Chapter 17 -
Jesus is Transfigured
Chapter 18 -
Greatness, sin & forgiveness
Chapter 19 -
divorce & money
Chapter 20 -
the last will be first
Jesus
surprises a lot of people this week with his transfiguration, his teaching and
his parables. What surprised you
this week?
Week 5
Chapter 21 -
the story of Palm Sunday
Chapter 22 -
parable of the Wedding feast
Chapter 23 -
denouncing scribes & Pharisees
Chapter 24
- foretelling the destruction of
the Temple & persecutions
Chapter 23
has lots of "woe to you"s in it - who do you think Jesus would say
"woe to you" to today?
Week 6
Chapter 25 -
be prepare, judgment day is coming
Chapter 26 -
the Passover becomes the Lord's supper
Chapter 27 -
Jesus is put on trial and executed
Chapter 28 -
Jesus is resurrected from the dead
Reflect on
Jesus' trial and execution. How
does it read compared with how you have imagined it in the past?
Having spent 6 weeks with
Jesus in Matthew, what have you learned?
What questions do you have?
