Reading the Gospels

Easter is one of my absolute favorite holidays to celebrate! I certainly love ALL holidays and hope to one day decorate a house with cute décor for every such holiday, but for now I'll stick to just writing about them. Easter brings Spring, pastels, sunshine, and most importantly worshipping our risen Savior! Our salvation is secured in the events that we celebrate at Easter!

Today marks the beginning of Lent. The Lenten period is the six weeks prior to Good Friday serving a traditional purpose of preparation for the believer. (All of this came straight from my friend, Wikipedia.) Most notably it is marked by fasting - giving up a certain luxury "as a form of penitence." I remember back in junior high and high school having friends just throw out the "I'm giving up French fries for Lent." Now, I'm certain they were unsure as to what they were really meaning here. Absolutely certain. They were all on this kick from the movie "40 Days and 40 Nights" and wanted their stake in it all.

And for me, personally, Lent is not about giving something up. To me, that can riskily edge on a works based mentality. And by all means, let's rid ourselves of that!

So for the Lenten period, I am not giving something up. I have, however, decided that I will read through the 4 Gospels during this 40 day time period. To prepare myself for Easter and the celebration to come and rejoicing in salvation, I want to focus on Christ's incarnation, His life, His death, and His resurrection. I've provided my reading plan below if anyone would like to join!

Matthew                      Mark                        Luke                    John
1: chp 1-3                   chp 1-2                     chp 1                   chp 1-3
2: chp 4-6                   chp 3-4                     chp 2                   chp 4-5
3: chp 7-8                   chp 5                        chp 3-5                chp 6-8
4: chp 9-11                 chp 6-7                     chp 6-8                chp 9-10
5: chp 12-14               chp 8-9                     chp 9-10              chp 11-13
6: chp 15-17               chp 10-11                 chp 11-13            chp 14-15
7: chp 18-20               chp 12-13                 chp 14-16            chp 16-17
8: chp 21-23               chp 14                      chp 17-19            chp 18
9: chp 24-26               chp 15                      chp 20-22            chp 19-20
10: chp 27-28             chp 16                      chp 23-24            chp 21

Obviously start with one gospel and read it through in the 10 days, and then move on to the next. I hope this is helpful!