'Those who have received the little "Almanac and Counselor " for the present year will have noticed the " portion for the month " at the head of each monthly calendar. It is our earnest desire and hope that very many of the Lord's people will unite with us in the daily reading of the books indicated, which will include something over half of the entire Scriptures to be read during the year; no great task surely, since it means the reading of but one chapter morning and evening. It is our purpose to devote a few pages monthly to a brief outline of the books to be read, in the hope that many will be stimulated to greater diligence and zest in the reading and study of God's precious Word, and get correspondingly more food for their souls.

The portion for January is Exodus in the Old, and the epistle to the Romans in the New Testament. Exodus, we may say, gives the account of the beginning of Israel as a nation. Genesis having been devoted to the unfolding of the lives of the individual patriarchs, it is striking and suggestive that when He would call His people together to form them into a compact whole, and deal with them, not merely as individuals, but as a corporate mass, God must have a solid basis upon which to rest; so Exodus is pre-eminently the book of redemption. This is the controlling thought all through. There is, of course, the account of the bondage, the plagues and the misery of Egypt, and, in the latter part, the tabernacle with all its rich and wondrous unfoldings as the abiding place of God amongst His people; but the great fact upon which all hinges – the being brought out of bondage and brought into relationship with God-is the passover, the blood of the lamb shed.

There are two main divisions to the book:

I. Chaps. i-18:give us God's power as seen in the judgments inflicted, and the deliverance wrought for His people.

II. (Chaps. 19:-40:) Relationship with God on the basis of covenant, with full types of salvation in the tabernacle. The prominent features in the first division are:

1. (Chaps, 1:-4:17) The need for and call of the deliverer-Moses.

2. (Chaps. 4:18-11:) Judgment upon Egypt, from which Israel is spared.

3. (Chaps. 12:-15:21) The great truths of redemption by blood and deliverance by power.

4. (Chaps. 15:22-18:) Divine provision for the way in this wilderness world.

In the second division the prominent features are:

1. (Chaps. 19:-31:) The giving of the law and the provision for the tabernacle. It is well to mark that the tabernacle could not be erected in connection with the giving of the law as such. The people made the golden calf, and the first tables of stone were broken. Man always fails when tested.

2. (Chaps. 32:-34:) The apostasy of the people and the second giving of the law.
3. (Chaps. 35:-40:) The building of the tabernacle. These are but the main divisions of a book which is intensely interesting and deeply profitable from end to end. The New Testament book is the epistle to the Romans, which has been chosen as a companion to Exodus, as throwing the light of New Testament fulfilment upon Old Testament type. Here we have the great truths of justification and acceptance before God developed, brought out in a divinely perfect way.

The four divisions of the epistle are so well known as scarcely to need more than a word.

1:(Chaps, 1:-5:ii) God's righteousness proving man's I unrighteousness and yet justifying the ungodly who believes in Jesus. Each chapter develops some feature of this general theme, until we reach the climax in the closing word, "We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."

2. (Chaps. 5:12-8:) Deliverance from the bondage and power of sin. This is truly a miniature book of Exodus, and can be studied with great profit in connection with the account of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt from the bondage of Pharaoh, as the passover shelter is explained in the deliverance from the guilt of sin in the first division.

3. (Chaps. 9:-11:) God's sovereign purpose and holiness vindicated in the account of His past, present and future dealings with Israel. As to the past, they are the chosen of God; as to the present, they are rejected because of their unbelief; as to the future, they will be restored as from the dead (chap. 11:), a wonderful and instructive portion, giving the key to all prophetic teaching.

4. (Chaps. 12:-16:) The last division is the practical portion of the book, giving guidance, encouragement and warning as to our path through this world, based upon the great facts of known redemption and enjoyed deliverance, unfolded in the first eight chapters.

What a feast is before us, dear reader, for this month! If heretofore you have been reading your Bible as a mere task, getting but little from it, turning too easily to this world's literature, let all that cease now. Let us seek God's grace that these two books may be read carefully, prayerfully, and intelligently, and how much we will have to bless God for as the result!

It is well to have a note-book in which to jot down thoughts gleaned from our daily reading, and this may be made as full or meager as the time we can spare will allow. It is not expected, of course, that the average reader can devote sufficient time to the exhaustive study of two full chapters of Scripture
each day, but surely every one of us can gather something from our morning and evening reading.
The little note-book will serve as a record of our progress, and a pleasant reminder of help gained.