Back in 2008 I decided to try an email service that was supposed to email me passages everyday and within a year I would have read the whole bible all the way through! Well, that didn't work out. So I bought a New Living Translation Bible (Someone recommended this translation to me because the language is much more simple and reads more like a story. I LOVE it!) and I bought a reading guide/journal to help me:
I started out strong but quickly lost track and finally gave up for a while. I was struggling and way behind. The Old Testament is just not that easy to read sometimes. By May 2011 I had only made it through 12 of the 66 books in the Bible. By this point I had completely given up on the Devotional Journal. I was now mainly reading through the Bible app on my phone when I got a chance. I had a spreadsheet to keep track of my progress. During the past few years I also did deep studies on some of the books of the bible and would mark those off my list as we completed the studies. The ones I did on major books of the Bible were:
These studies help tremendously to really go deeper and completely understand what the text is saying and what it all means. The Galatians and Romans studies were by Tim Keller who gets kind of deep and I personally have a tendency to get frustrated with them. But that frustration I've found is good for me. I grew more spiritually during these two studies than any of the other ones we've done I think. The Esther and Daniel studies were Beth Moore. Oh I love Beth and her big hair and seeing her outfits on the videos each week. (Yes there are videos with these and they help a lot!) I really enjoy Beth's studies! These deep dive studies take a long time. Anywhere from 6-12 months! But I love them and can't wait to do more!
Other than those books and after I gave up on the chronological study guide (probably around Deuteronomy) I just read straight through the Old Testament. I did take breaks and do smaller books like Proverbs and Ephesians during times we were studying those at church. When I finally finished the Old Testament, I knocked out a few smaller books of the New Testament just so I could feel like I was making some real progress. Then I went back and started with Matthew. I jumped around a bit in the New testament I think because the last two books I ended with were Acts and finally Revelation.
It feels good that I can finally say I have read the Bible all the way through! But I am by no means done! I will spend time everyday in God's word. I want to do more deep dive studies on specific books for sure!
I think it is good for everyone to read the Bible all the way through from start to finish because it really does tell a story! Tons of little stories and some are really shocking and interesting! But also one bigger story of God creating us, giving us chance after chance to have a good relationship with Him, us rebelling over and over, God trying to correct us, us screwing up, God loving us, the promise and foreshadowing of Jesus, and then finally Jesus comes and fulfills the promise! And now we no longer have to try to save ourselves He sent us a king and savior to take the punishment for sin and all we have to do is accept that gift and make him Lord! It is so amazing to see everything come together and how God used all these things to weave together such a beautiful story!
My favorite book of the Bible? Ecclesiastes
My favorite character in the Bible (other than Jesus)? David
My favorite story in the Bible (other than the crucifixion)? Abraham almost sacrificing Issac
My favorite verse in the Bible? (at the moment)
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
(but there are so may more good ones! It could change weekly!)
Have you ever read the Bible all the way through? What was your approach?
2 comments:
Congratulations, Susan! That's a HUGE accomplishment!
That is so awesome. I have been trying for so long but could never do it. I love my Jesus calling and learn various passages but that is not reading the whole thing. Finally I bought a children's bible and have read to the kids every single night. So, I can say I have read the children's bible from beginning to end, but an adults bible, yeah not so much. Give yourself a pat on the back, that a huge accomplishment!
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