Good morning everyone! And a very Happy New Year! 2007 is here! And it doesn't feel all that different, does it? Well, maybe it does for some of you! And with the coming of a New Year, it is time for that most hallowed of traditions, it is time for us to make some New Year's resolutions! By a show of hands, how many of you made a New Year's resolutions for this year? Great! And also by a show of hands, how many of you have already broken your resolutions?

Around this time every year, many Christians make the resolution to read the Bible. This is something that I've done basically every year since I was a child. And some years were better than others. I start off strong every year. January, I am reading through Genesis, I mean I am flying through Genesis. What an incredible story of creation and Adam and Eve. I finish Genesis strong and then I enter Exodus full speed ahead. It's also an exciting book. And then I hit February and I enter Leviticus and it's a weird book and then I hit Numbers, and I am just struggling. And so by the beginning of March, I resolve to try this thing again next year. Can anybody relate to that? I've spoken to many people and this is very often how things turn out. There is a generation of Christians out there who are extremely familiar with Genesis and Exodus, and maybe a little bit of Leviticus and rarely anything about Numbers, and usually nothing after that. I wonder why this happens. Are we just not trying hard enough? Are we just too lazy? Are New Year's Resolutions just a stupid idea? I don't have an answer for you. But as difficult and challenging as it may seem, I would like to challenge each and every one of you with one resolution for 2007, and that is to fan into flame your love and your passion for Jesus by reading the Bible. I want to challenge you to make this a priority in your life in 2007.

As an assistant pastor at this church, there are few things that I would love more than to see all of us get fired up about reading the Bible. I would love to see all of us here today make a resolution to fan into flame our love and passion for Jesus. I pray with all of my heart that 2007 would be a year of spiritual renewal and revival for every one of you. I pray with all of my heart that 2007 would be a year of overflow and abundance. May 2007 be a year that will be remembered for generations to come.

So, this morning, to help us with this resolution, I would like to spend the brief time we have together to share with some thoughts about reading the Bible. Since we have only a very limited time together, rather than teaching you specifically how to read the Bible, I want to spend our time sharing with you the attitude, the heart, the posture that we should have as we engage ourselves on this great endeavor. And I know that some of you were hoping for some concrete instructions on how to read the Bible, so I made up an informational sheet that will give you some concrete ideas on how to study the Bible, an explanation of the different versions of the Bible, along with a great list of resources like books and websites that will be helpful for you. I apologize in advance because I imagine that I will raise a lot more questions than I will answer, but I hope that you will all leave here this morning with a deep desire to encounter God through the Scriptures in 2007! Let's pray!

ABOUT THE BIBLE
I think it is a pretty well known fact that the Bible is the best-selling book of all time. But what is less known is the fact that the Bible is the best selling book year after year after year. In 2005 Americans purchased some 25 million Bibles, roughly twice as much as the most recent Harry Potter book. It is estimated that in the U.S., the average household owns 4 Bibles, meaning that Bible publishers manage to sell 25 million copies of a book that almost everybody already has! And every year, new versions of the Bible come out. I was looking through a catalogue from a Christian bookstore and saw that almost half of the catalogue was dedicated to Bibles - all kinds of different versions of the Bible. Here are some titles. Of course there are your standard New International Version, King James Version, and so on, but here are some other titles:

• NIV Study Bible
• NIV Quest Study Bible
• Women's Study Bible
• Men's Devotional Bible
• Maximized Living Bible
• Extreme Teen Bible
• Firefirefighters Bible
• Everyday Life Bible

And now you can even get it on CDs. I saw one that was entitled, "Johnny Cash reads the Bible." The product description reads as follows:

The New Testament of the New King James Version is read in its entirety by music legend Johnny Cash. After 20 years of encouragement from his mother to record the Bible, he approached the recording of the New Testament with "fear, respect, awe, and reverence for the subject matter." Cash said further, "I also did it with a great deal of joy, because I love the Word." Johnny Cash Reads the Complete New Testament, is 19 hours of hearing the Word of God from one of the most distinctive voices of our time. The legend of country music shows his greatness.

The Bible or Holy Bible, also referred to as Scripture, is a collection of 66 books. It was written in the span of about 1500 years by 40 different authors, people from all walks of life. Here are some authors:

• Moses was a Political Leader
• David was a Shepherd Boy turned Warrior and then a King
• Amos was a Farmer
• Peter was a Fisherman
• Matthew was a Tax Collector
• Luke was a Doctor

Parts of the Bible were written in Asia, parts of it were written in Africa, parts of it were written in Europe. But even with such a vast time span (some 1500 years) and written by over 40 different authors from every walk of life and written from different continents, the Bible, comprised of 66 different books, is absolutely singular in its message about who God is.

We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 REASONS WHY I RESOLVE TO READ THE BIBLE EVERY DAY
1. I resolve to read the Bible everyday because GOD HAS SPOKEN
The Christian faith is characterized by, among other things, a deeply relational God. We do not worship a God who is far off is some corner of the galaxy who has left us to fend for ourselves, secretly hoping that we never find him. Our celebration of Christmas is a testimony to this truth. Our God has entered into his created world, so that he may have a relationship with us. Paul declares in his writing to the Christians in Philippi, that Christ,

Being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Our God desperately longs to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. He is not a distant nor silent God. God has spoken! God has spoken to his creation, and he picked 40 authors to write a book comprised of 66 books in the span of some 1500 years that reveals to us who he is. In the pages of this book, God is bearing his heart and soul, calling us to know him, calling us to seek him, calling us into a relationship with him. God has spoken. And here is what he says about the Bible:

Joshua 1:8 (The Message)
And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV)
These commandments (meaning the Bible) that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

God was very adamant about making sure that we remembered his words. He wants to reveal himself not just to us but also our children, and our children's children, and on and on and on. So, one of the things that he commands, that we see in Deuteronomy is God commanding his people to impress these, his words, on their children. These verses that exhort us to pass on this legacy to our children have special meaning for me because as a child growing up one of the things that my parents had me do was to write out the Bible by hand on a notebook in the Korean language. And of course one of the reasons they did that was so that I wouldn't forget the language, but they were very intentional about my reading and learning the Bible. They loved the Bible and they wanted the same for me.

I am not suggesting that this is something that we should all do. But for some of you, I think this will be an incredibly effective way for you to read and learn the Bible. Maybe not the entire Bible, but a few verses here and there.

And for you parents, let me encourage you to take seriously the task of passing on our Christian story, our legacy, to our children.

Our God, our relational God, has spoken. And I don't know about you but I think that is absolutely fantastic! So in 2007, I resolve to read the Bible everyday because our God has spoken.

2. I resolve to read the Bible everyday because I WANT TO REALLY LIVE
The second reason that I resolve to read the Bible everyday is because I want to live. The more I live the more I realize how sinful I am. My thoughts, my words, my actions, things I do that I shouldn't and things I don't do that I should. I am weak. I get tired. And I am also desperately hungry. Have you ever been hungry? I mean really, really hungry? Every part of your body cries out for nourishment. Even the mere scent of food is enough to make your stomach turn. And when you finally take that first bite of that burger, steak, or salad, or whatever you enjoy the most, then you begin to truly understand the meaning of satisfaction. Our body needs food to survive. It is essential to life! While we are keenly aware of our physical hunger and will do just about anything to satisfy the need, we are seldom aware of our spiritual hunger. We walk around with full stomachs but our spirit is starving.

Listen to the words of Jesus from Matthew 4:4: Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Jesus himself is quoting from the book of Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 8:1-3
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Are you feeling weak today? Are you tired this morning? Are you desperately hungry in the depth of your spirit for something more? God tells us that merely eating food to satisfy our stomach is not enough for life. You and I were created to hunger for something much greater than burgers and steaks and salads. Not even Heralds Chicken or Ribs and Bibs. You and I were created to hunger for the word of God! This is absolutely mind boggling for me! How many of us have walked around discontented, dissatisfied, seeking for something to fill the deep longings in our hearts? And God says that's because I created you not to live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

I've spoken to many, many, of you in the last few months who have grown tired, weak, worn out from life, desperately hungry for something more. If that is you this morning, listen to these words again from Deuteronomy: "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." So, let me ask you, have you read from the Bible lately? Have you fed your spirit lately?

There are seasons in our lives that God causes us to hunger. Hunger is not a very good feeling. It makes us keenly aware of our need. And the spiritual discipline of fasting comes into play here. About 6 years ago, I had the opportunity to do some intensive training at a ministry school in California in the middle of the desert. About 15 students from all over the world came to live together for three months to receive ministry training. And for some weird reason, right when I got there I felt God impress on my heart to fast. And I did not like that one bit. I hated fasting. I was never good at it. Sometimes I would give up in the middle of it. Seriously, one time when I was trying to fast for three days, I swear I thought I saw fried chicken floating in the room. I did not like fasting at all. But when I got to California, I felt God impressing on my heart to fast for 40 days. I knew I couldn't do a strict fast where a person just drinks water, so I decided on a liquid fast where I would just drink water, juice, and milk. I have to say that it was one of the hardest things that I've ever done in my entire life, but I have to say that it was also one of the most rewarding. There were seriously times that I wanted to blend up a steak and mix it into my juice!

God called me to fast and basically die to my flesh so that I would become aware of a deeper hunger that lingered in my spirit. It was a time of intense soul searching and seeking God really with all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. And he met me there, in his word. It was one of the most significant times in my spiritual journey. You can say that it was a defining moment for me. There is a funny story with that. While I was fasting, I also decided to cut my hair really short, like I have today. My friends from the church that I was attending at that time came to California for a conference and they came out to visit me one day. By this time, I probably lost somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds. So, my friends come to visit me in the middle of the desert, here I am about 20 pounds skinnier and also I cut off all my hair. And one of them walks up to me when nobody is around and she whispers to me, "Insoo, is this some sort of a cult? Are you in trouble? Are you okay? Do you need us to get you out of here?" We all had a really good laugh about that.

Again, I am not suggesting that all of you move out to the desert to fast for 40 days and cut your hair really short. You really shouldn't try a 40-day fast unless you feel certain that this is what God wants you to do and you know how to fast so that you don't hurt yourself. You can really damage your body if you don't do it properly. But for all of us, what about putting aside one meal a week to fast and pray and read the Bible? What if you take out one lunch hour from your work week where you just find a quite place to pray and read the Bible? We can all do that, couldn't we?

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

John 4:14
Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

I want to live. I don't want to survive life. I don't want to simply get by. I want to live the life that God says I should live. A life of purpose and meaning. A life of significance and power. A life of worship and faith. A life of risk-taking and adventure. A life full of God! So, in 2007, I resolve to read the Bible every day so that I can really live.

CLOSING
So, what about you? Won't you please, please, join me in this awesome adventure? Won't you take that first step to fan into flame your love and passion for Jesus by reading the Bible every day? Won't you put aside just one meal a week to fast, and pray, and read the Bible?

In 2007...
May you live a life of purpose and meaning!
May you live a life of worship and faith!
May you live a life full of the things of God!
May you find your spirit satisfied on His daily bread!
And may you encounter God in Scripture everyday!

Matthew 4:4
Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Let's pray!