January 7, 2009

In the Morning with God

At the beginning of 2008, Girltalk had posted a New Year's series on resolutions. My favorite one was Keeping One Resolution and, as the idea was to grow in godliness, I thought I would study humility and contentment. The more I studied, the more I thought these two traits were really different sides of the same coin, then realizing my poverty. But, hey, if you want to get rich you have to work.
Sometime during the latter part of the year, I made it to C.J. Mahaney's little book, Humility: True Greatness. After spending the better part of the year reading Puritan authors like Jeremiah Burroughs, Mahaney was sweet relief. And it was from him that I devised my Bible study plan for 2009.
In his book, Mahaney presents three ways to pursue humility: things to do "as each day begins," things to do "as each day ends," and things "for special focus." I have clipped a 5x8 sheet in my Bible to remind me how to start and end the day, thus I decided to focus, focus, focus.
Mahaney lists five areas of focus:
  • Study the attributes of God (87)
  • Study the doctrines of grace (90)
  • Study the doctrine of sin (92)
  • Play golf (94)
  • Laugh often and laugh often at yourself (94)

And that's the bare bones skeleton of what I will be studying over the year, yup, even the golf. Over the next few days, I will put the flesh on this skeleton and let you see what the body looks like.

C.J. Mahaney, Humility: True Greatness, (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2005), 63, 79, 87.

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