Reading Goals for 2009

For the most part I hate New Year’s Resolutions. There was even a time in my life when I refused to make any resolutions and secretly ridiculed anyone who did make them. But my thinking in this area has significantly changed over the past few years.

One of the main catalysts for changing my thinking about the topic of goal-setting was the study of James 4:13-16.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

In this passage God is not opposed to anyone making plans or making profit. In fact, God expects us to do these things! (see Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 1:9-10) What God is against, however, is planning and profiting outside of His will. It is possible to plan and succeed in the wrong things. So the believer must always approach planning and profiting with a humble deference to what God wants and to what pleases Him. Think about it – God wants you to plan for 2009 and He wants you to profit in 2009!

So how can we apply this to reading?

If you are presently not much of a reader, consider making a simple and general reading goal for this year. Start with a plan to help you read through your Bible this year. The discipline you will develop by persevering through this reading scheme will bring you great profit. Then pick a number, any number (start small if you have to), and plan to read that number of books in 2009. If you don’t like to read or are a slow reader, make it your goal to read one book a month. That way you will read twelve Christian books in 2009. As you look back on 2008, if you already read that many books plan to read a few more – maybe 20 books. A couple of years ago I made it my goal to read 30 books and counting the Bible I read a total of 31 (some of them were very short – I have to confess). That’s not a huge amount but it was a good starting goal for me to shoot for.

This year I made it my goal to read at least 30 books but I’ve been much more purposeful in my reading. Instead of “cheating” by reading small paperbacks, I selected four large books (800+ pages each!) that I divided up over the whole year (approximately nine pages a day). I realized if I did not plan for these larger books I probably would never get around to them. In addition to these big books I chose ten specific books about Christ and the Gospel to help focus my reading in this area. It doesn’t look like I will meet all of these goals exactly as I had planned, but I know I am a lot closer to meeting them than if I had never tried!

For 2009, I plan to refine this method a bit further. I have selected three big books to read small portions of throughout the year, and instead of reading ten books about one major topic (i.e. Christ and the Gospel), I have chosen four topics to read specifically about (i.e. five books re: Holy Spirit; five re: Truth; four re: Church History; and three re: Men’s Ministries). There are a few other reading goals for next year that I won’t bore you with here.

The point is this: God wants you to get a reading plan for 2009. And by His grace you will profit greatly in your reading. Why would you want to miss out on this part of God’s wonderful will for your life?

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