Don’t you love it when there’s a fresh snow and you get to be the first one to track through it?  Either with your skis, your kids, or even your 4 wheel drive?  It’s like a blank canvas, and you are the artist.  January is like a fresh snowfall, too.

You’ve got 360 days left to scribble all over 2012.  What will you paint?  A new job?  A new skill?  A changed habit?  The possibilities are staggering!  Can I make a suggestion?  How about getting God into your paintbrush, into your life, and all over the canvas of this next year?  Here’s how.

Pick one of the 200 plus Bible reading plans available at www.youversion.com/reading-plans/all.  Choose from options like:

• One Year Bible
• The Essential 100
• The Essential Jesus
• New Testament
• The Gospels
• First Steps Plan

There are plans for marriage, grief, prayer, anger, fear, forgiveness, and suffering.  There are plans for students, men, women, parents, and those in recovery.  There are so many plans you’ll find it hard to choose.  Maybe your canvas will need more than one color.

All these are available 24/7, free, online.  And they’re also available as a free download for any smart phone you have.  And there are 27 different translations in English ALONE!  It’s never been easier to paint.

Why should you bother?  Not because you need more things to do.  Not because you need another resolution hanging over your head.  Not because you want to beat your uncle at Bible trivia, either.  But because you and I were made to relate to our heavenly Father.  And one of the best ways to get to know him is through his story.  The Bible is his story.  And when you get to know his story, you begin to bring God into your story.  Onto your canvas.  Into your fresh snow.  Evidence of God all over your new year.  What will your canvas look like?

-Pastor Mark