Day 1: Your First 30 Days in the Bible
Welcome to the joy-filled journey of reading the Bible! With each page turn, it brings life, hope, and joy to our lives! It gives us purpose, refuge, and strength for each day! The Bible is God’s Word breathed into life (2 Timothy 3:16-17), as each page whispers the name of Jesus.
Which is why for your first thirty days in the Bible we’re not going to start at the beginning of the Bible (though we recommend you check out Genesis next since it’s SO good).
Instead, your first thirty days will be sitting at the feet of Jesus - getting to learn of Him, love Him, and understand Him and His purpose.
We get to know Jesus best through the book of John in the New Testament, written by likely the closest disciple or follower of Jesus - a fisherman named John. He was one of Jesus’ first disciples, who dropped his fishing net to follow Jesus.
What would it look like to be so inspired, and so convinced of who Jesus is, that you drop everything you’re doing in the moment (including leaving your family and business) to follow Jesus!?!
That’s what happened to John and he never looked back.
We pray as you journey along through the book of John that you never look back, but find the amazing joy that Jesus can provide!
As you read, you’ll notice John often referenced the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” which most believe was an attribution John used to describe himself in his writings.
Can you imagine being close enough to Jesus to consider yourself one whom Jesus loved?
Well you are, my beloved. And we’ll get close enough to Him throughout the pages of the Bible for you to learn it for yourself.
You may have questions along the way. But don’t get discouraged. We’re here as a support to you. Reach out to The Chara Project team at hello@thecharaproject.com at any point to ask questions or share what you’re learning. You have a community of people cheering you on as you discover the Bible!
John gives us a picture into the life of Jesus that is a jumping-off point for the rest of the Bible: a story about God and His deep love for us. What we learn about Jesus here, will help us as we navigate and read other portions of the Bible. You are not going to want to miss the next 30 days! So let’s begin.
NOTE: For this reading plan, we highly recommend that you read the Bible in a translation that’s easy to read and understand as you get started. Translations we would recommend include the CSB, NIV, or NLT. See this article for details on different translations.
Written by: Heather Erickson