Happy New Year!

I confess, I'm having a difficult time wrapping my mind around the concept of it is 2011. As a child, I imagined Star Wars-like travel taking place by this time. Over the past two weeks, I made a couple of road trips and sitting in the car for a long time still felt like old time travel to me.

But still 2011 is here! Time keeps moving forward in spite of any attempts I make to stop it. I also confess at times I wished I could stop time for everyone else, while I run around catching up. But that hasn't happened yet either.

Though my youngest son tries to convince me that time travel may actually be real because he saw a 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie at school with what appears to be a person talking on a cell phone. (To see that clip, click here.)

Regardless if that is a time traveler or if it can actually be explained, I decided that God created time for us. It's how we use that time that really matters. The older I grow, the more I realize that relationships matter more than anything else.

First, I realized my relationship with the Lord must be right before my relationships with others--my husband, children, extended family, friends, and others will work. To improved my relationship with God, I started reading His word on a regular basis.

Three years ago, I embarked on a journey that changed my life. I read the Bible completely through. I choose to read it chronologically the first two years, then last year I read it by Old Testament/New Testament sequentially.

By reading the Bible regularly, I realized it has drawn me closer to God and a closer walk with Him.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. ~~Genesis 6:9, NLT

Way back when, Noah walked in a close relationship with God and he was considered the only blameless person on the earth at the time. He lived during a very wicked and perverse generation. That sounds a lot like our times doesn’t it?

Well, we can walk right with God no matter what goes on around us by having a closer relationship to Him. Daniel choose to do what's right though he lived in a foreign land. We're foreigners just passing through, like the "time traveler" in the Charlie Chaplin movie.

Again, this year I committed to read the Bible through historically. I've used this site, BibleYear.com, because I can choose from five different reading plans from so many different versions and languages. I made my choice, then I simply bookmark it then click open each morning.

Will you join me in 2011 in seeking a closer walk with the Lord by reading His word on a regular basis?

Happy New Year 2011! May you walk more closely with the Lord this year!