It’s Summer Time again! This means that my daughter and I embarked on reading the entire Bible in 30 days. Yes… that’s right! From Genesis to Revelation and every page in between! I never thought this was possible, but here we are doing it AGAIN!
Why do we think that it’s impossible to read the whole Bible like this? I think it’s because we have the one year Bible plans and most people don’t really bother reading the Bible cover to cover. I started thinking about this when I was challenged a few years ago by a Pastor who used to read “The Lord of the Rings” every year (which is a bigger book than the Bible). He said that if he could read that, why was he not reading his Bible?
I kind of put that comment and challenge away in the back of my mind and trudged along with everyone else in trying to read the Bible each year — giving way around February when other things took up my priorities and time.
This is why the challenge of reading in 30 days appealed to me when it was presented by a friend last year. She said that it would give me a fantastic overview of the entire Bible quickly and that Genesis would still be fresh in my head as I read the New Testament just a few weeks later.
The main thing to remember is that “YOU CAN DO ANYTHING FOR 30 DAYS!!!” Also, you need to set aside about 2-1/2 hours each day. Sounds like a lot — especially when you were working both a full time job AND a part time job like I was last year! But, you can do this! I did an hour or so at lunchtime and then read the rest at night since I’m a night owl.
Here is a video I did of my process on YOUTUBE. Check it out and leave me a comment on what you think! I hope you will try it! https://youtu.be/LiJtVAbbjZU
Be sure to PRAY first and pray every time you open your Bible. God will help you through this and you will be blessed!!!
Well… it’s been a week! I thought it was going to be very difficult and honestly, that’s why I needed to get some of my brothers and sisters holding me accountable for reading the entire Bible in 30 days. It was a daunting task.
I decided to ask the Lord for help — it’s amazing what happens when you pray FIRST, isn’t it? I asked God to help me make time and to actually make this a priority. Given that I work full time and also do ministry and crafts and make YouTube videos for fun… I wasn’t sure how much of extra stuff I would be able to get into my day. I had visions of me toiling over books and chapters in the Bible going past midnight.
This was NOT the case!
I was able to find pockets of time in my day – I ate lunch and then sat down to read for about 20 minutes. I found a small spot after dinnertime to read with my daughter (how wonderful to be able to read the Bible together since she’s doing this as well). There was, of course time in the evening but maybe an hour and a half. That might sound daunting, but when you start reading and have a love for the word of God, something happens – you lose track of time and end up getting ahead some days.
I read ahead knowing that some of my days are busier than others and then I evened out on Sunday because that seems to be when we are most occupied. All I know is that in 1 week, we both have been able to read Genesis, Job, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, & Judges!!!! AMAZING!!! I thank the Lord for allowing me to stay on task, on focus and for giving me the time to do this.
How did your week go?
Was it easy? Was it terrible to find time? Are you ahead, behind on the reading schedule? Are you on your own timeline and schedule? I would love to know more!
About 2 weeks ago, I met with two women who are full of wisdom and understanding. They both know their Bible inside and out. There are reasons why I want to hang out with people like this:
They LOVE the Lord
They want to know more about Him as revealed in Scripture
They show that they are followers of Christ not only because of what they say, but the way they conduct their lives – they place Christ first.
When I mentioned off-hand that I would like to be a bit more disciplined in my Bible reading, one of the women said that her husband was challenged years ago with reading the Bible Chronologically in 30 days and then, her husband challenged her! After my jaw came up off the ground, I asked her why would you want to run through the Bible in that way?
Here are her reasons:
In a 1 year plan, you can’t remember what you read in January/February by the time you get to the summertime. For me, I can’t remember in just a few weeks!
In typical reading plans, you get bogged down in the book of Leviticus or Numbers — in a 30 day plan, you don’t have time to get bogged down.
30 days gives you a great overview when you are reading in Chronological order. Your mind starts to put the pieces together of what happened when.
Honestly, all those reasons made total sense to me. She then added “you can do anything for 30 days!” and that was the clincher. I struggle through the 1 year plans – they usually take me 2 years to complete. I not only lose steam but I lose concentration. I thought “why not?”
Next, I asked HOW…
Surprisingly, she suggested that if you read about 2 hours per day, you can keep up fairly well. Her method was to read for 1/2 hour in the morning, 1/2 hour at lunchtime and then 1 hour in the evening. That doesn’t work for everyone and I have busy days (due to working full time) and some busy weekends. So, you can use the 2 hours as a rule of thumb and maybe read a bit more on one day or less on another, depending on your schedule.
So, I decided to do this BUT I need accountability. It’s so much easier to do something like this if you know others are doing it with you and that’s where YOU come in! 🙂 If you are interested, reach out to me on FB @monasabahbooks. I will share which chronological plan I am using and we can keep one another ENCOURAGED!!!!
Every week, I plan to ask:
What were some milestones you reached that told you things were going well?
What roadblocks or setbacks did you face?
What did you learn after you reached these milestones, roadblocks, or setbacks?
What would you do differently if you could start all over?
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ~ Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
When I was around 7-8 years old, I was taught how to pray by my grandmother. In Islam, children are taught at an early age to memorize verses from the Quran for when we go to sleep, awake, eat, wash hands, etc but usually around the age of 7, most families begin to teach children the full prayers for the day. One has to understand that this is not like Christian prayers which can be in any language. Daily prayers in Islam MUST BE done in Arabic. The problem is that about 84% of the Muslim world does not speak Arabic.
Not only is the child learning to memorize prayers, but they must memorize them (usually) in a language that is not their own mother tongue. That was my case. Being a very stubborn girl (still am, for those of you who don’t know me!), I refused to learn how to pray until my mother (who spoke Arabic because my parents worked in Saudi Arabia) translated them for me and put them in writing.
Given this background, I did not necessarily relish memorizing Scripture when I became a Christian. Lo and behold, no one was making me memorize either. When I began to study the Bible, I found the words to be like poetry and they filled my soul. I had a DEEP DESIRE to learn these words so that I may share them with others who were having a bad day or were struggling so I began memorizing snippets of Scripture like many in my Bible studies had done.
Last year, for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to give my husband a different gift. I memorized what is sometimes known as the “Love Chapter” from 1 Corinthians 13 (you know, “love is patient, love is kind…”). I memorized it and recited it to him on Valentines Day, except that I said “Stephen is patient, Stephen is kind…” I stumbled just a tad bit, but overall was able to remember it. I tried recalling the chapter over the summer and SURPRISE! It was still there! 🙂 I still pray the chapter out loud so I can continue to remember.
The reason to memorize is not to play a game to see who wins or to have a race. It is to commit the verses to your memory, to pray them over your family and friends or others God places into your life. It is to be a discipline to bring you closer to our Father, it is to help increase our prayer life and to study God’s living Word.
Will you prayerfully consider joining me? I will post the “plan” that I am going to use (borrow from Dr. Andrew Davis) and also how I modify that plan to fit how I learn.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may OVERFLOW with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit ~ Romans 15:13
What does each day look like for you? Is there an overflow of love, joy, peace, goodness, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control? I can tell you that I had an extra piece of dessert today at lunchtime (yes, the cookie from Panera Bread was indeed forced upon me!) so the “self-control” part wasn’t looking too good today.
Does it seem like there is a parched desert instead of rivers of living waters emanating from you? Why is it that some people dwell in a state of calmness while others get irritated at the smallest of things?
I can answer that.
Since I have started the discipline of reading God’s Word in the Holy Bible on a daily basis, something is changing within me. There are reminders throughout the day that bring me back from the brink of anger, irritation, sadness and other things that want to move me out of my peace with Christ. For example, I had a meeting that got moved at the last minute, causing me to have a conflict with another and thus, lose income. I could have been furious at that, but instead chose to look at it as something that may instead have been a part of how today was supposed to be planned. Maybe it was for the best that I was already in one place and had to miss the other. Things happen for a reason. I have to trust that there is a bigger purpose from God and that He truly is involved in my daily work.
Christ said that He is the bread of life (John 6:48). Christ is also the Word of God (the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… John 1:14). The Word of God is how we can stay full in an empty world. How can you feed others and pour into them when you are starving yourself? If you do not feed daily on the Bible and take in what God says to you, then it is predicted that you will wither on the vine (John 15:4). Bible illiteracy is at an all-time high.
I am so amazed at Christians who tell me that they have read the Quran and when I ask them if they have read the Bible cover to cover, they sheepishly tell me “no!” We had a pastor who once told of his own testimony that when he was in seminary, reading the Bible was not mandatory. He felt convicted to start reading the Bible when he realized that he had read “The Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien more times than he had read the Bible. Since then, he took great care to read the bible cover to cover every year.
What’s going on? Why won’t Christians take the time to read? I have a few theories on this:
Too busy – children’s sports, recitals, needs, wants, etc. and demands of work and life
Too intimidating! Have you ever started at Genesis and tried to read the next few books? By the time most get to Numbers, their eyes glaze over and it ends there
Too complex – there are more interesting things to read. Why not read a fictional book about the Bible instead?
Takes too long – have you seen how big the Bible is?
Reading the Bible and making time to read are disciplines. It’s no different than going on a diet or exercising. You have to set realistic goals and try to stick to them. You have to be INTENTIONAL.
I started off trying to carve out a little Quiet Time at the end of my day to pray, read a verse, meditate and pray some more. I was already crocheting before bedtime, so this was not that hard to do. The next step was to actually crack open my Bible and start reading a passage or two to meditate upon. Again, not too difficult, once I placed my Bible by my yarn. Next, I decided to try to read the Bible daily for 30 days. Most professionals will tell you that it takes a minimum of 30 days to start a habit.
Guess what? The 30 days came & went. I was encouraged! 30 days turned into 90 days and now, I have been reading the Bible consistently for almost a year.By the way, “consistently” means that I may have skipped a day or two, but I don’t let that get me down or give up on the whole thing! I have made it through the entire old testament (which I had read before) and now am going through parts of the new. A good way to start your reading is NOT at the start.
RC Sproul recommends that you take 3 sections at a time. Start with Genesis, Psalms, and Luke. You will be amazed at how the 3 correlate! You don’t have to read entire chapters. Just a bit at a time.Â
As you start dusting off that Bible you got years ago as a gift (to yourself or from someone else), you will find that you will start to recall more and more of what Christ says. Some verses will jump out to you more than others and you will begin to think, dwell and examine God’s word. This is what “meditating” on God’s word means. It means to chew on it and think about it and roll it around in your head.
May the fountain of living water never dry up again in you. May you resemble the River Jordan that overflows with life, instead of the Dead Sea where everything ends and dies. May the waters that run through you water those who are also thirsting for peace, joy and eternal life. Christ says “…Â but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14). Amen!
