Jeremiah 31:3-4
I did it. I
read the whole Bible cover to cover. Not in order but I have read all 66 books
in about a year and a half. The first book I read was 2 Timothy and the last
book I read was Jeremiah. Random, right? But I got the message, I soaked up as
much of God’s Word as I could during that time and I am forever changed.
I had two
fears about reading the Bible before I started. The first fear I had was that
there would be this huge expectation of me and my Biblical knowledge. I
realized quickly this fear was absurd, because no matter how many times we read
the Bible, we are not done. God is still working on our hearts and our minds.
We are constantly being molded in our lives, circumstances change us and God
changes our responses to our circumstances, so the Bible is not a once and done
kind of thing. God’s Word is living; it as applicable today as it was then. It
is unchanging but people are ever-changing so soaking in the same passage
during different times of life can make the passage be understood differently.
The second
fear was I would feel so condemned. I’ve been going to church all my life; I’ve
seen the looks, I’ve heard the “prayer requests,” I know what religious folks
think of certain things. I’ve also heard how church people talk about the
different people in the Bible and to be honest I pictured this squeaky-clean
version of the Bible. It is anything but.
The Bible is
a mess. But so am I. Reading the Bible reminded me that I am broken but so is
everyone else. We all break and hurt in different ways. We don’t have the same
struggles or longings or desires. That doesn’t make anyone better or worse but
just solidifies the fact that we all need a savior. And we can find that savior
in Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can heal our broken pieces and deeply
love all of our being despite who we are (not because of who we are). How comforting it is to be wanted, to be
called to love like Christ, not judge or tear down, to forgive and be forgiven,
to have a relationship with God, and be reminded that this broken world is not
our home.
My dad
toasted Darren and I at our wedding with a quote: “Life isn’t about waiting for
the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” This is a common
theme in the Bible. As I read through the Bible, I quickly noticed there are
highs and the lows. Some highs are really high and there are some really deep,
deep lows. And somehow it comes together as this beautiful masterpiece that
makes perfect sense.
Imagine that! The Bible actually makes sense. Why books
are in there, where they are in the Bible, why are certain people in there – it
all comes together. (Please, tell me I was not the only one who didn’t
understand.) The Bible is about forgiveness and redemption and justice and
love, not how to keep your faith in a tidy, little, perfect box nor is it a comprehensive
list of all the things you must be or do in order to be deemed good enough. The
fact is we will never be good enough. We can always try to be better, to seek
God more closely, to live and love more like Christ, but we will never be
“good” enough for God’s grace. That is a gift, one Jesus died on the cross for
– His flesh was ripped and torn and His blood poured out so that we won’t ever
have to check enough boxes to get to Heaven. We just have to believe God for
who He is and what He says, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. In
doing that, I have no doubt you will be changed.
Going
through this experience I was able to seek God in a deep way that I haven’t
experienced before. I was also able to understand some of the why’s to hurts,
trials, and lesson. God works for the greater good always. Even in the hard
stuff. There is always, always purpose for His ways. I’m reminded of the song
lyrics by Ginny Owens that go:
“Oh
I will praise You in the deep,
For
it’s there that my eyes see the truth.
When
I dance for joy, or when I weep,
I
will praise You.”
That song
isn’t about flippantly praising God because He is God, it’s about trusting God,
trusting His time and trusting His ways. When we are in the deep, dark spots of
our lives – the hard stuff – that is the ultimate test for trusting God.
Praising God in all circumstances is a reminder that God is fighting our
battles for us. I can’t even tell you how many times I read the phrase, “The
Lord will fight for you” in the Old Testament. Over and over until it felt like
it was in bold and capslock. I get it, it’s time to relinquish control of our
lives and trust the Almighty.
And now that
I’ve finished the Good Book, I won’t stop wrapping myself in the scriptures for
I know each time I read them, God will shed a different light on every lesson
there is to learn.
If you’re
like I was, about a year and a half ago, sitting with your Bible in your lap,
full of questions and an eagerness to know God more; maybe with tear soaked
eyes or anger pounding through your chest, or maybe just curious and have a
desire to seek God fully, then I hope the following notes about how to get
through the Bible will be helpful.
First off,
let me just say, it’s doable. Even if you have littles (seriously, I remember answering one of my devotional questions, "What is keeping you from getting closer to God?" as "Well, Maci is currently jumping on my head.") Even if you have a full
time job. Even if you are super popular and have a crazy social calendar. It
can be done. God will meet you right where you are in your life. In your chaos, your mess, your joy, your hurt - wherever you are, He has already found you. Now it's your turn to find Him.
As you begin reading, I don’t suggest sticking to a schedule because you won’t keep it
and that’s just disappointing. I do suggest reading the Bible every day. Some
days that may be a lot (a whole book) and some days that may be a little (a few
verses). But if you work your way through a portion of the Bible every day, you
will eventually finish. I promise.
Before you
start reading, pray. Ask God to make the scriptures clear, not just so your
mind will understand but so it can be impressed upon your heart.
It’s also
important to understand what the books are (i.e. history, letters, prophets,
accounts, etc.) so let me do a quick
run-down. Trust me, it really helps it all make sense.
The Old Testament
History
– the following books are basically history books. Some are incredibly
interesting, some aren’t. (Though I must note some of the books I had to drag
myself through, my husband loved. To each his own!) They are mostly in
chronological order. Unless you really love history, I would suggest reading a
couple of these then reading one of the prophets and then going back to a
couple of these. This will help break up any monotony.
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Wisdom/Poetical – the
following books incite wisdom and are mostly written in a poetic style. They
are beautiful, really. Job is one of my favorites and Song of Songs is
romantic. Psalms is really long. Really, really long. I decided to simply read
a few Psalms at the end of my daily reading until I read them all. If you ever
have questions about how to dig into these books (or any for that matter) visit
Intervarsity Press.
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Prophets – the last
of the Old Testament books are written based on the accounts of the prophets.
Many of which align with the historical books (especially 1 Samuel – 2 Chronicles).
It is helpful to have the context from the history before reading the prophets
but not entirely necessary.
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
The New Testament
The Gospels – the
following are the Gospels which are the account of Jesus’s life told by the
disciple after which the book is named. I suggest reading at least one of these
before moving on to Acts.
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
History – the following book chronicles the event after Jesus’s death and resurrection. I definitely suggest reading this plus at least one Gospel before moving on to the rest of the New Testament
Acts
Letters to Churches
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
Letters to People
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Letters to the Christian Public
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
It helps to have a
devotional Bible as well that tells you who the book was written by, at what
time period, and the setting of the book (this is especially helpful when
reading about the prophets and the letters). Intervarsity Press (http://www.ivpress.com/) is a great guide
and easy to understand.
The Bible is not the
only way to seek God and draw closer to Him but it is a beautiful tool and
resource given to us. I don’t know what took me so long to really dive in and start
using it, but I’m glad I did. I hope you will be too.
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