1. Seeking Wisdom From God
A Bible Reading Plan for 2019

2. Planning To Succeed In Bible Study
No plan, probably no dedication to study.
Suggested plan, not the only plan.
My intention for this year is to focus on WISDOM.
This year’s suggested plan will explore various sources of deep godly wisdom!

3. Why Wisdom?
Wisdom is vital for the child of God to succeed in godly living and proper choices. It is a rich blessing.
Proverbs 3:13 – “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.”
Want a truly happy New Year?

4. How Vital Is Wisdom?
Proverbs 4:5 – “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.”
Proverbs 16:16 – “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.”

5. Where Do We Find Wisdom?
James 1:5 – “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Psalm 111:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments, His praise endures forever.”

6. God’s Word Is A Source Of True Wisdom
Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Mark 8:38 – “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

7. A Study Plan Focusing On Wisdom
Some books of the Bible are wisdom powerhouses.
For this year, I propose we all study deeply in those books and concentrate on words of wisdom from God.
So, for this year I have prepared a study that encompasses the following books: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the New Testament book of James (sometimes called the Proverbs of the New Testament).
This plan requires 5 days per week of reading and study to cover all the above books in 51 weeks. Rarely will you have to read or consider more than 25 verses of Scripture in a day’s time. Most days are below 15 verses.

8. The Scope of the Study
Each Sunday, the five days worth of verses will be printed in the Southside bulletin. Which five days works best for you is purely up to you.
I prepared the following mnemonic device to remember what to do each day for the study.
REV UP! Which stands for READ, EVALUATE, VOCABULARY, UNDERSTANDING, and PRACTICING.
Let me demonstrate what I mean by REV UP! by examining Psalm 1.

9. Reading
Read (or listen to) each day’s passages at least once. Preferable to read multiple times and possibly even in different translations.
Read carefully, thoroughly, quietly, to try and gain as much information from simply reading as possible.
This is NOT an exercise to finish quickly and check mark a box for the day.

10. Psalm 1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

11. Evaluate Questions to ask of the text:
What is the main subject matter of this reading?
Is there one thesis? Or multiple theses?
Does the reading follow any interesting alignment, such as debate? Acrostic? Rhyme scheme?
Does the text seek to illicit emotions, logic, or is it purely didactic in nature?
Can I learn anything about the intended audience from the message of the text?

12. Evaluating Psalm 1
The main subject is a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
The opening verse is in the negative sense: speaking of what the righteous do NOT do.
Illustrations help with understanding the security of the righteous: firmly planted tree, ready nourishment, good fruit yield, leaves that do not wither.
Same is true of the wicked: chaff blown by wind, inability to stand at judgment,

13. Vocabulary Are there words which you do not know or understand?
Are there words that are obviously highlighted?
Are there repetitious words, or words that might have multiple meanings?
In this psalm, I would study: blessed, path, prospers, evil and wicked.
HINT: internet can be helpful here, by finding good online Bible dictionaries, and good interlinears.

14. Understanding
In this step, I trace the argument, discussion, logic of the writer through whatever points he’s making.
I try to understand the flow of the text to be sure I see how the text can be applied to me or to modern needs.
Note: A text CANNOT mean today what it didn’t mean then! So – do I understand what the writer was saying?

15. Understanding Psalm 1 Two stanzas deliver the message.
It is obviously very good to be the person who trusts in, and follows God’s law, and to meditate upon it daily.
It is obviously bad to be like the wicked, who do not study or meditate upon the law of God. There is no stability or security for them.
If I want blessing, security, prosperity, then I can only find that in the delight of God’s law, His word!

16. Practice
Does the message give me anything I can do, or practice, that will result in greater wisdom, understanding, or righteous living?
In this case:
I can avoid wicked counsel, scoffers, and others who despise God and His word.
I can meditate on God’s word seeking wisdom and knowledge.

17. A Final Thought
If we will each follow these steps each day, I have absolute faith we will be wiser and more understanding by the end of the year.
God’s word is powerful wisdom. Will we pursue it? Or will we foolishly despise wisdom?