One Year Bible: January 1

It’s a new year, and a new chance to start again with the One Year Bible. If you’ve never heard of the OYB, let me recommend it to you. With this system, you read a portion each day from the Old Testament, Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament. So many people (Christians and non) have never actually read the entire Bible. If you’re not a Christian, that’s understandable, although I’d like to challenge you to read it. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what is and what is not in the Bible, and the only way to know for sure is to read it yourself in context. But if you are a Christian, and you’ve never read through the entire Bible, I guess my question is, “What are you waiting for?” Please start. You’ll be blessed.

I’d like to say that I will add a little something every day about what I’ve read in that morning’s portion, but we’ll have to see about that. Let’s just say that I’ll try. 🙂

To read today’s portion of scripture, you can purchase The One Year Bible (paid link) or find the following in your Bible:

Genesis 1:1-2:25
Matthew 1:1-2:12
Psalm 1:1-6
Proverbs 1:1-6

And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

Genesis 2:9

I didn’t get very far in this morning’s reading before I had to pause. This verse stopped me, because in it, we find the origins of beauty. Do you see it there? “Pleasant to the sight.” It mattered to Him that when humanity reached to pluck fruit from the tree, our souls would be fed as well.

They say that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I know what the mysterious “they” is trying to say, which is that we ourselves imbue beauty into the ones we love. There is an element of truth to that. But what I see here is that God is the source of beauty, and that He created it for our pleasure.

Those who do not know Him often miss this part of His personality. In the heart-level list the unbelieving carry through life, there’s no room for this tender attribute. Their list instead is dark—full of wrathful scowls and a raised hammer; a gnarled pointing finger and a gleam of delight when fault is found.

But that’s just because they don’t know Him.