If you are experiencing difficulties in life, you are not alone. I recently had a conversation with someone related to the challenges of life, and the conclusion was that in a sin filled world, there will always be pain and suffering. This realization was helpful for the person in being more gracious toward himself and to others. Certainly, it is nice when things are going smoothly, and we are enjoying life. But the reality is that life is difficult and is full of human failures, and I do not want to minimize this fact by offering a simple one size fits all plan to fix the difficulties you may be experiencing.
However, what I do want to offer up today, on the first day of the new year, is something that has the potential to be transformational in your life. And that suggestion is to develop and to implement a plan to read the Bible daily, with the goal of reading it all the way through in 2023. The Bible states that “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASB), so that is why you can be assured it has the power to be transformational in your life. There are many different strategies to accomplish the goal of reading through the Bible, I would encourage you to find one that works. You may want to consider starting in the New Testament with Matthew and then begin with Psalms and Proverbs in the Old Testament, but that is only a suggestion. Reading the New Testament in the mornings, and the Old Testament in the evenings has worked well for me. My encouragement is for you to be open to what the Bible says, and not what you want it to say. Also, you may want to consider praying that you will be open to God’s word and instruction in your life. If you are not already reading the Bible daily, I hope that you will consider and implement a plan for daily Bible reading as a resolution for 2023.