Wednesday

10 Ways to Help Start A Good Daily Habit - A Dose of Encouragement


Oh go on admit it!

We all have habits.

Some are Good and then there are those ones that we just don't want to talk about.







Well they say
(don't really know who they are but I am always reading or hearing that this is what THEY say)

that

 if you do something for 30 days you will form a new habit



I took this seriously a few years ago because I seriously wanted to get into the habit of reading at least one verse of the Bible before I got into some kind of Social Media or something else on my iPad each day.

So if you read my  "Advice for a King & for Us post in my Encouragement Series you will know that I started with Proverbs 31.


Well I can tell you that 30 days
did not truly make this
 a habit for me!!!


But


We all know the saying

"An Apple a Day keeps the Doctor away"


So how about we make it

"A Psalm a Day keeps the Devil at Bay"?







Or

Maybe it would be better to make it


"A Chapter a Day Gives The Lord His Say"?






A Chapter is not too much to read each day.


So


How do you get started?



Here are 10 suggestions:


Also don't miss the 3 TIPS at the very end of this blog post.


1.   Start at the very beginning.
If you are a methodical person you might find this suits you and of course the Book of Genesis gives us a good grounding for all that is to come later.

At the start of this year I chose to read through the Bible in one year Chronologically so it did not follow through the Bible in the order of the placement of books in the Bible but by the time in which they were written.






2.   Pick a Book you have never read before.
Something that will be fresh and new to you.

Even though I have read straight through the Bible a few times there are still some books like the minor prophets that I often can't recall.



3.   Pick a book you could read completely in one day.
There are 5 books that are only 1 chapter long:

OBADIAH
PHILEMON
JUDE

The other 2 are
2 JOHN
3 JOHN
However it might seem strange to read 2 & 3 John before 1 John so see below to join up all 3 books







4.   Pick a short book that you could read within one week.
There are several books that have between  2 - 7 chapters.

HAGGAI  -  2
HABAKKUK  -  3
JOEL  -  3
NAHUM  -  3
2 PETER  -  3
TITUS  -  3
2 THESSALONIANS  -  3
ZEPHANIAH  -  3
COLOSSIANS  -  4
JONAH  -  4
MALACHI  -  4
PHILIPPIANS  - 4
RUTH  -  4 
2 TIMOTHY  -  4
JAMES  -  5
LAMENTATIONS  -  5
1 PETER  -  5
1 THESSALONIANS  -  5 
1 TIMOTHY  -  6
1, 2 & 3 JOHN  -  7

Or a combination of 2 or 3 from this list to make up a week's reading.







5.   Pick one of the Gospels.
Some people prefer to read the New Testament first before the Old Testament as they feel it is easier.
Some people prefer to read the narrative about Jesus before the other books.

Many people recommend John's Gospel as the first Book to read.







6.   Pick the book of Psalms 
Where each one can be thought of as a complete read on it's own.

There is great wisdom for us in the very first Psalm so a good starting point.







7.   Pick the book of Proverbs
Where each chapter is often thought of as easy to read.

This is a book which is full of wisdom and advice & I like to note the repetitions of phrases within it.







8.   Pick a book you have read a long time ago.
One not so familiar at the moment.

Like my choice of Song of Solomon in the recent past because I could not really remember it and I never felt I understood it very well.



9.   Pick a book that your pastor has preached on recently.
One you can think of in the light of what your Pastor has taught.

For me that would be Ruth.

Perhaps I should have waited to hear his teaching before I wrote these two blog posts. 


Ruth & Boaz - The Start of the Story





Ruth & Boaz -  Love & Perfection?







10.  Pick a book that your pastor is about to start preaching on.
One to prepare you for future teaching.

For me that would be Esther.







Plus 3 EXTRA TIPS


1.  Do Not start with the book of Job  -  long & hard to read

2.  Do Not give up with reading the Bible daily  -  if you feel you cannot understand a book then simply leave it
 and choose another.
You can always go back & read it later.

3.  Tell someone your plan and ask them to check up with you regularly to encourage you.
  Maybe you can do the same for them.