So many people talk to me about NOT reading their Bibles.
I get many excuses… don’t get me wrong, many are valid reasons. However, there is a saying out there “You would if you wanted to.” That simple saying indicates priorities in our life.
Is the Word of God a priority for you?
Honestly, it has not been a priority for me in the past. I had a full time job, I taught school in the evenings and I had children. Being a wife, a mother, an employee and a professor did not leave much time in the day. I was lucky to read 1 verse and even that did not happen most days!
Then I was introduced to Bible Study and was told that I really needed to be “in the Word.” Bible Study allowed me to be more dedicated because it was built into my schedule. The problem here was that in the Summertime, there was no Bible Study — so again, I filled up my time with other things.
It was not until I found out how to do Scripture or Bible Journaling that I was able to read, think about (meditate), and draw Scripture. I have videos on my YouTube Channel how to Bible Journal – this one is through Psalm 1 — just a beautiful Psalm. This really helped me to set aside my own time to meditate on what the pictures in my head looked like about the different verses and then to draw them. As an unexpected bonus, I found that I had memorized several of those Scriptures!
My time in the Word of God was further helped by my friend who introduced me to reading the Bible in 30 days. This was another way for me to recharge what I did and how I developed a habit (most habits take at least 30 days to form) of reading the Bible for myself. If you are interested in this, here’s my post on how to get started.
Today, I am working with my mentor to memorize 1 Corinthians 15 (see pic above). I am using my fountain pens to write out the verses, to doodle and to make a concerted effort to read the chapter over and over again until the whole this is committed to my heart, mind and soul. These are the things that are eternal work — they ought to be given priority in our day. Again, I am not perfect – I was barely able to read 10 verses yesterday, as I was running from the morning until the evening.
Give God the tithe of your time and give Him your all. He gave us His Son who died for us. Isn’t a few minutes of our time worth it?
A much shorter post for last week. Of course, I was doing fairly well – falling behind a day or two and then catching up on the weekends (mainly on Saturday). Then we moved into the 3rd week of the reading and we had a conference to go to in Texas for 2 days. Of course, it was on a Friday and Saturday (my big day of catching up!). We came back exhausted and the kids wanted to talk that evening.
There are some things that have to wait – no matter what is going on around you. So, I ended up falling even more behind! I was still on Wednesday’s reading list by the time Sunday came. Sundays are all about doing things with our church family, so it was a big blessing.
This week, I am spending time catching up. I changed the order of reading (again!) to go through the minor prophets (called “minor” not because of their message, but because of the size of the books that are called by their names). I set aside the longer books of Ezekiel and Daniel for this week (Week 4). It’s been going fairly well and consistent. I am feeling a bit less passionate because of falling so far behind. HOWEVER, I am reminded by my bookmark that I am able to read the beautiful word of the Lord and actually understand all the different exiles that were taking place! So amazing to be able to finally “get it!” I believe 100% that it’s due to reading altogether and not forgetting what happened just last week in the Biblical sequence of events.
SO… onward we go!
Week 3 Books: Song of Solomon, 2 Chronicles, 1 Kings, 2 Kings (I really slowed down in my reading through 1 & 2 Kings to get a better understanding of the Kings and the exiles), Ecclesiastes, & Obadiah
Today’s reading: Ezekiel & Daniel (I hope I can get through both and then I will go to the NEW TESTAMENT! YES!!!)
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
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.
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 “… 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!
