Do you feel like the world is rapidly changing around you? As though all the influences in your life are pressing you to assimilate, to embrace secular ethics, and to stow Jesus quietly away in an unimportant drawer called “personal religion”?
You’re not alone. The world is changing, and Jesus taught us to expect this. He warned that the world, the flesh, and the devil all work together in a cosmic plot to draw people away from life with God, and toward the slow miserable death of a godless life.
During the pandemic, I felt like I saw this in real-time. Across the country, Christians quietly left their churches—not because they were angry or decided they didn’t believe anymore, but simply because it was easy. Then Gallup released a study of American mental health which showed that, across the board, Americans were in mental decline.
Well, almost all Americans.
Those who attended church every week were the only group to show mental health improvement during the pandemic. It shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus called himself “the bread of life.” He is our inner sustenance. Our spiritual nutrition. Our life.
The powers of darkness want nothing more than to enamor you with this world and starve you of what truly satisfies you.
Every day you face a question: Will I go hungry or eat?
In the Bible, you encounter Jesus himself. Ancient prophets literally ate scriptural text—which might be a bit much—but the point was clear: these words are sweeter than honey and more filling than bread. You’re free to starve, but why do it when a feast awaits you every morning?
Read the New Testament with Us
One reason we started our podcast, Ten Minute Bible Talks, was because we wanted to help people feed on Jesus’s word. In 2022, we went through the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). In 2023, we will read through the entire New Testament.
Maybe you’ve never done anything like that? Now’s the time. We will guide you through, and you’ll see God’s word change your life.
Most New Testament Bible reading plans go straight through the whole thing in order. That’s fine, but it gets a bit monotonous. Why? The New Testament opens up with four Gospels (each telling the story of Jesus’s life), followed by the story of his first followers. That’s followed by a lot of letters, and finally, Revelation. So you don’t get much variety in terms of genre.
So we decided to approach a New Testament readthrough a bit differently. Our plan creates a lot of variety, inviting you to understand the New Testament in fresh ways. We’ve divided the whole New Testament into three sections.
First, we’ll go through the Gospels and letters that emphasize the Jewish roots of Christianity. The story of the Bible doesn’t start with Jesus but with the family of Abraham, and these books continue that story in insightful ways.
Second, we’ll go through the Gospels and letters associated with Paul and his closest friends. These books were largely addressed to Gentile converts to Christianity, thus showing how Jesus is the king and rescuer of all humanity.
Last, we’ll go through the Gospel, letters, and apocalyptic literature associated with Jesus’s disciple John. He was with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, but—unlike most of the disciples—he was not executed for his faith. His writings give us the whole sweep of the early Christian movement. And let’s be honest… Revelation is both cool and weird.
The beauty of this plan is that you’ll experience the richness of the New Testament without getting bogged down too long in one type of writing. Over the next year, you will revisit the story of Jesus from different angles. You’ll see how the early church movement unfolded in narrative and through letters. And you’ll end by catching a glimpse of heaven in Revelation.
I can’t wait to see what God does.
How You Can Join us
To read through the New Testament with us, I recommend you do two things:
First, download our free reading plan, and spend 15 minutes every weekday reading a chapter.
Second, listen to the podcast. Every day, TMBT will explain what you read and help you apply it to your life.
If you can only do one or the other (or neither), don’t fret. The goal isn’t to check off your New Testament achievement box. The goal is to create a habit of reading and engaging with God’s word.
Consider inviting a friend or family member to join you. Accountability always helps us follow through and create habits. More importantly, we’ve had people across the country (and around the world!) share how discussing our podcast devotionals has created deep friendships. You could end this year having read the New Testament and grown a friendship.
Remember, you live in Babylon. It wants to consume you. It wants to starve you. But Jesus wants to give you life. Don’t turn down the feast he sets before you. Instead, give him thanks and eat up! You’ll be surprised how your life changes through his word.
Join Ten Minute Bible Talks in reading the New Testament in a year.
Start using the free TMBT Bible Reading Plan now!
