My Year in the Bible

“But Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.'”

Matthew 22:29

Have you ever read the Bible? I am willing to bet that most Christians would answer right away “Of course I have read my Bible! I’ve been going to church my whole life!” You would probably get a similar response if you asked someone if they know God. The sad truth is that many people know about God, less people really know God.

Maybe you have never really thought about it much. Like me, you probably just kind of assumed you knew the Bible and knew God. What if there were things you thought you knew about the Bible, but maybe you were wrong? What if there were things you thought were in the Bible, but maybe they really aren’t? Maybe God didn’t really say that thing that you always assumed He said. Would you want to know?

I grew up in church. I attended Sunday School as a child and was even part of a weekly scripture memorization club during my school age years. I went to youth group, then to a young adults class, and then on to small group Bible studies. I am no stranger to church. Being a regular church attender is great, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee you any kind of true spiritual closeness with God. In fact, routine, checklist religion may just be the thing keeping you from intimately knowing Him.

I know a lot of people who would say they are Christians that have never read the Bible. They have read portions of the Bible, but they have never read through the entire Bible. I was also in this camp for most of my life. It wasn’t until I was well into adulthood that I realized the importance of regular Bible reading. I guess I really always knew it was important, but that fact still didn’t seem to get me to pick up the book and read it on a daily basis. Even after I started reading my Bible “regularly”, I still felt like it wasn’t enough to just read a few scriptures a day and go on with my life.

Eventually I felt this conviction that I needed to read the entire Bible (yes, even the seemingly boring family history parts). I just came to this sudden realization that I was claiming to know the Bible, claiming to know God’s will, and even telling others about it, yet I had never actually read the whole thing for myself. Yeah, I had read most of it. I knew all the stories and the major themes, but I could not honestly say I had read the whole Bible word-for-word. That bothered me, and if you are a Christian that hasn’t read the entire Bible, it should bother you too. How can we fully share Christianity with others if we don’t know the whole story?

If you have read my previous post, “Daily Pursuit”, from 1/5/18, you have heard me talk about the importance of reading the Bible for yourself all the way through. I would compare a Christian who has never read the Bible to someone who says they are a dedicated fan of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Twilight but have never actually read the books. Maybe they’ve seen some of the movies, or read parts of the series, but that is about the extent of their knowledge. I think I would have a hard time believing that they were totally sold-out fans if that were the case.  I think the same is true of Christians who don’t read their Bible. Hearing the stories secondhand from a Sunday School teacher or a pastor is a start, but you can’t count on others to build your relationship with Christ. Only you can do that. Think of it this way: would you go on a Lord of the Rings themed trivia game show with someone who hasn’t read the books? Of course not! You want someone you can count on to know their stuff if you are going to be on national TV with money and prizes on the line! Then why do you think your non-Christian friends want to trust your word about the Bible if you haven’t read it? For them, there is more on the line than money.

---

My “Bible in a Year” Experience

I have now read the entire Bible on my own! Every book, every chapter, every page, and every verse. I can now truthfully and with certainty say “I have read the Bible!” Accomplishing this goal was such a monumental moment for me, for a lot of reasons. I used a “through the Bible in a year” plan so I could read it, in its entirety, in one calendar year. You’re probably thinking “That’s a big book. There’s no way I could read the whole thing in a year!” To be honest, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be! Starting out, I was pretty intimidated too, but just a few days into the plan, I realized it wasn’t so hard. With the plan I used, there was only about 15-20 minutes of reading per day. That is a much smaller time commitment than I originally thought it would be.

I am not going to say reading the Bible every day for a whole year was a breeze. In fact, there were days when I missed my daily reading and would have to make up for it other days. You will likely have to do the same at some point, and that is okay! There were even some days when I would be traveling or driving and would listen to my set of scriptures on an audio version of the Bible to stay caught up.

I learned a lot of things during my “Bible in a year” journey. I learned that God has so much to say to me, and I am not hearing it if I am not reading His Word. Everyone wants to hear from God and know His will. Fortunately for us, He has written it all down for us! We have access to all of that information in this book! All we have to do is open it and read it. That is great news! I have learned more about the heart of God and what He wants for me, and for all people.

So many things make more sense to me now that I have read the whole book start to finish. When we just read a story here and there, or a few verses at a time, it makes it very difficult to understand the meaning behind them. It is important to know the context of the verses you are reading. For this reason, it is crucial that you read the verses before and after to make sure you know what the author is talking about. There are also a lot of passages that might not make as much sense if you didn’t realize those same subjects were referenced in other parts of the Bible. For instance, if you only read the New Testament, there would be a lot of quotes and topics that you would pass over without fully understanding them because they are references to the Old Testament. You are missing out on a lot by not getting the whole picture.

Look, just because you read the Bible all the way through does not mean you will know all the answers to every Biblical question that ever comes up. It does not mean you will know everything there is to know about God. The truth is, we will never know it all. We are constantly learning and growing in Christ (Read Endless Pursuit from 4/6/18). That’s what I love about the Bible: the more you read, the more you discover. You can read a passage and it may speak to you in a totally different way than when you read it before. That is because God is constantly revealing things to us through His living and active Word. (Hebrews 4:12). For this reason, I will continue to read through the Bible each year. Daily Bible reading has become such a part of my routine that I would feel like something was missing if I were to stop. I want to continue hearing from God every opportunity that I get! The best way for me to do that is by reading His book.

---

Next Steps

I encourage you to read the Bible in its entirety. I know it may seem like a daunting task. I know you are probably busy and don’t have a lot of extra time to sit and read. Trust me, I get it. I hope that you will at least give it a try. There is more than one way to read a Bible, and I would love to help you choose a manageable reading plan.

• Start by using the helpful guidelines from Daily Pursuit to choose a manageable reading plan that works for you.
• Next, set aside a time of day when you can dedicate 30 minutes or less of uninterrupted time to reading the Bible and communicating with God.
• Set a goal: Decide how often you want to read and determine when you want to complete your Bible reading. (Do you want to read through the Bible in a year? Two years? Three years?)

Personally, I decided I wanted to read through the Bible in one calendar year. I started on my birthday. For me, that was a great time to commit to starting something new and create a new healthy habit. It also gave me something to look forward to, as if it was a birthday present to myself. The feeling of accomplishment and the added closeness to God that I had was a pretty great birthday gift!

Whatever you do, don’t wait much longer. You don’t know what you are missing by putting this off. You have so much to gain and you won’t regret reading through the entire Bible, start to finish (Isaiah 55:11).

5.19.18

*For more information, or help picking out a plan that is right for you, please contact Rugged Pursuit through this website, or on Facebook by searching for @RuggedPursuit and send us a message. You can also contact us by email at ruggedpursuitdevo@gmail.com. We would love to help you find a resource that assists you in your journey with Christ.