“Every Christian worth his salt reads the Bible cover-to-cover every year.” -J. I. Packer

I really want to encourage you and as many others as I can to make the decision and commitment to read through the Bible this year! There isn’t a book I could recommend more to you than the Bible.

I’d like to recommend all of you heading over to YouVersion.com. It’s an online Bible site that is awesome, they also have apps for the iPhone, iPad, Droid, you name it! They have reading plans here: http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/all

You can pick a plan that works for you! They’ll provide checklists, places to take notes, highlight verses, share your favorite verses on Twitter or Facebook. It’s awesome!

If you’re thinking about jumping on a plan you’re probably one of three people:

You Already Read through the Bible Once a Year – Try reading a different plan. Try something that challenges you. Make up Bible projects. Do book studies and stay on one book for a week or two! Start a Bible Study. Who knows, just make sure you’re getting challenged!

You Read the Word of God, but Never Feel Challenged - Commit to a plan! Choose one that will challenge you!

You Have Never Read the Bible Before – I wouldn’t necessarily try to read through the entire Bible in a year. Find a plan that will take you through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Make sure you find a version that is easy to read and understand. I’d recommend the New Living Translation or The Message.

Finally, my friend, Zack Blair, wrote a great blog post talking about mistakes people should avoid when committing to a Bible reading plan! It will help you throughout your journey and keep you going!

Make the decision. Try it out. Dig deeper. It’ll be the best choice you make all year.

²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do super abundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, dreams] -Ephesians 3:20

I recently heard about a pastor who read this verse and thought, God, you want to do things way beyond anything I can ever dare ask, think, pray for, hope for, or dream of. I want that to happen in my life. He said that God spoke to his heart, “Well, when are you going to start dreaming big ? You haven’t given me anything to work with. ” He said, now every time he wakes up he dreams of what could be done through his life, dreams of what he can do to reach people, nothing is off limits!

“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

I am convinced that God wants to do unbelievable things through our lives. God is looking for people who will dream big for Him. He wants to change the world through us. But in order for that to happen, we need to allow God to shape our dreams and to believe Him that ALL things are possible to him who believes.

One of my mentors told me a long time ago, “Bubs, dream big and go for it.” I’ll never forget that.

So dream big this year -  Dream of how you can impact people this year. Dream of what you can accomplish this year. Dream of who you want to meet and  where you want to go. When you dream of this year make sure you’re THINKING BIGGER than you ever have, TALKING BIGGER than you ever have, GIVING MORE than you ever have, and ENVISIONING MORE than you ever have. Give GOD something to work with.