Introduction
For the last two years I have
endeavored to track every minute that I spend studying the Scriptures. The
original purpose was twofold: I desired both to gain an accurate view of my
life while also setting up concrete and measurable goals to challenge myself to
be in God’s Word as much as possible.
Challenge
Try to think of as many
individuals from Church history as you can. It is likely that some of the names
that popped into your mind were Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon –
individuals we hold up as giants in the faith. Why are they considered such
pillars of the Church? Because they were the people who made a difference. The
people who are known in Church history are those that refused to be content with
the status quo. They were the men and women who purposefully focused their
attention on the glory of Christ and were fixated upon making Him even more
famous in the world around them.
I am not saying that being
remembered is a sign of faithfulness. On the contrary, I believe there are
millions of believers who we know nothing about that lived faithful lives for
the glory of Christ. Regardless, whether or not we are remembered by future
generations should not impact our desire to make a difference in this world. I would like to challenge you to discipline yourself by setting your
mind on accomplishing great tasks in this life for our Lord. This is the
challenge for us all: will we choose to set high expectations for our lives and
be disciplined in order to achieve these goals that we may accomplish greatness
for God? We should strive to live our lives in such a way that, at the end, we,
like Jesus, our Lord and Savior, may be able to say that we glorified Him on
earth, having accomplished the work that He gave us to do (John 17:4).
Year Two in Review
At the start of 2018, I decided I
would again track my time in studying Scripture while also adding an intense
reading plan to increase the challenge and push myself further. My goal for
this year was to read through seventy-two books. This desire came as the result
of a post that read, “Many CEO’s of large
companies read sixty books a year.” Since the Church is a far greater
enterprise than a company, I was personally challenged to go above and beyond the amount of
reading accomplished by leaders in the secular world.
Well, the year slipped by and I
was only able to read fifty books. Thus, I ended the year short of my goal, but
I did not find this discouraging because that is still fifty books! You see, even though I fell short of my goal by
twenty-two books, had I not set a goal at all, I probably would not have read
near that amount. And, just to clarify, only thirty of the books were required
by my seminary classes. The other twenty I read on my own time.
Application
I challenge you to set high
expectations for yourself in 2019. You may not hit your goals every single
time, but at least you will have set them and pushed yourself out of
complacency as you strive for excellence for Christ. If you aim for nothing,
you will hit it every time; but if you aim high, even if you miss, you will
still hit higher than you originally would have otherwise. I’m sure you have
all read the famous quote, “Aim for the
moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” It is so very true! Do
not just coast through life and allow it to pass you by. Grab time by the reins
and make the most of your days (Eph. 5:16).
Your goals for the new year may
not be the same as mine and that is okay. Perhaps it is tracking the amount of
time you spend studying the Scriptures or in prayer or maybe having a number of
books to read. Yet it could also be striving to share the Gospel a certain
amount of times per month or volunteering with a local homeless shelter to show
the love of Christ in tangible ways. Maybe you wish to push yourself in your
job by taking on more responsibilities or taking on more college classes so as
to graduate sooner rather than doing the bare minimum so as to grow in juggling
your responsibilities and improve your time management skills. The point is
that your goal for 2019 can be whatever it is that the Lord is putting on your
heart. The challenge is to discipline yourself in order to strive toward
achieving this personal goal.
Conclusion
The total time I spent in the
Word of God this past year was 763 hours. After adding the past two years
together, I have spent 1560 hours studying Scripture from January 1, 2017 to
today. I am excited to continue to push myself in 2019 and hope this encourages
you to set high personal goals in this new year!
*Click here to read last year's blog post.
