Last week, TGC began a Read the Bible in 2020 initiative. Already, the number of those joining us has been enormously encouraging.

I was eager to join, too, but not because the idea—or even the plan for execution—is new. The M’Cheyne reading plan has been around for more than 175 years, and I’ve been using it for the last two. I’ve even been through Don Carson’s comments (published in For the Love of God) multiple times.

No, I was excited to join for different reasons. First, the experience of reading along with thousands other believers is a wonderful reminder that even though we live in a secularizing society, Christianity is far from dead. We believers are not alone—not even close.

Second, reading together allows us to learn from each other. Articles such as Scott Swain’s on how we can see the Trinity in Genesis 1, or Patrick Shreiner’s on why Matthew starts with a genealogy, are made more valuable by the timing. Their answers or explorations come exactly as I’m asking the questions in my morning readings. That means I’m more likely to appreciate and remember their teaching, because it fits onto a scaffolding of Bible knowledge that I’m accumulating in an orderly way.

What a joy to dive into God’s Word. And how that joy is compounded when we do it together.