Are You a Tree?: One Year Bible Reading and Reflection for January 1, 2022

 Hello and welcome to a new year! Today we begin our study of the One Year Bible with readings from Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, and Matthew. Each day we will have one reading from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and a quick Psalm and quick Proverb. At the end of the year, if we do the reading each day, we will have read the entire Bible! And we will have read Psalms and Proverbs twice, because they start over halfway through the year. Are you ready? You're welcome to purchase a One Year Bible, which you can find online, or you can just read the verses in the Bible you have now. OR, you can read the verses online. I'll provide the references each day, all you have to do is look them up in whatever Bible you'd like.

Today we start with Genesis 1:1-2:25, Matthew 1:1-2:12, Psalm 1:1-6, and Proverbs 1:1-6. I won't have the time or energy to write reflections on every verse or even on every reading. What I'll do is read it and then write about the part that jumps out at me. Often this will correlate to something God shows me in my prayer time that day. So now I'm going to do the readings and then I'll come back and write my reflection.

OK, I'm back! I've done these reflections for many other years, and I've already written on the OT and NT readings. But today I felt that the Psalm jumped out at me. Especially since we're starting the year by spending time each day "meditating on His law" day and night. These verses tell us that if we spend time reading and thinking about His "law", which is the holy scriptures, then we will be like trees planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in season. 

Stop and picture that. You are like a tree, planted by a stream. The stream is Jesus, the living water. When we read His words each day, they feed us. They help us to grow strong, like a tree that has plenty of water and soil. And then, in due season, we produce fruit. When the right time comes, when we need to give someone the right answer to a thorny problem, we will produce that good fruit that helps, feeds their hunger, and heals them.

So join me this year in spending time meditating on His words each day. They will strengthen you and when the time is right, they will produce good fruit. You have His word on it.

God, thanks for giving us these living words that strengthen us and produce good fruit in our lives.