My daily checklist has seen a lot of the world as I traveled with it these past 3 months!
It concludes with, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
And in between is a whole lot.
It’s the Bible, and it’s really long. Sixty six books — or at least letters — and over 1000 pages even without the notes. Over 700,000 words total.
In the last 90-days, I have read it all. No, not listened to it. Not perused it. But actually read it. It’s like reading the entire of book of Romans each day, plus a bit. About 30 minutes a day for me.
A friend and spiritual mentor asked me, “So what did God tell you in the midst of that effort?”
Huh. It’s a great question. It took me some time to figure it out, but I came up with three key things.
First, the Old Testament is filled with a God craving relationship. He is often a jealous God because the people tend to ignore, disobey, and even forget Him. But this occurs in the New Testament as well. Jesus slams the Pharisees over it. Over and over in the Epistles I read the author warning churches against false teachings, bad behavior, and “forgetting” the beauty of the Gospel message.
It has made me wonder, what are we forgetting today? I am no better than those people of old, so I wonder what the Prophets or the Apostles would write to me today? I’m still chewing on that.
Second, the Bible struck me as presenting a faith of second chances. And third chances, and fourth chances, and many chances. God is incredibly patient. Every person mentioned in the Bible makes some kind of mistake — often horrible ones. And God gets angry at him (it’s usually a guy). But when there is repentance there is reconciliation. God lets us come back to Him over and over and over. From Adam to Abraham, from Jacob to James, from Peter to Paul … adultery, lies, selfishness, betrayal, murder … it’s a long list. And it is always forgiven when a contrite heart invokes God’s grace. What a wonderful message.
Third, the Bible is wonderful to read in large chunks. I remember a chapel speaker from college encouraging us to read large sections at once because it provides the grand sweep of what God is doing. This 90-day experience reinforces that and lets me see the whole theme of a book or letter. I love that. Dwelling on a single passage for a long period of time is good too, but there is great value in soaking up large portions of the Bible in one reading.
And a bonus fourth point. The process is especially helpful if I read a little throughout the day. Whenever I could I read at breakfast. In the middle of the day, maybe when I need a break from emails, I read a bit more. Then more at lunch, or between meetings, or just as I go to bed. Spreading it out this way makes it feel easier. Best of all, it feels like the word of God has been with me all day long. It doesn’t take away from seeing the big picture — in fact, it reinforces it. And it creates a presence in the day that one long reading session does not recreate.
Now I go onto my next spiritual exercise, but more on that later. For now I will relax in the knowledge that I took the challenge, and I completed the goal. It’s a cool feeling to have!
PS If you want to take the challenge yourself, here’s a link to a reading list and here’s a link to the Bible in 90 Days website. Let me know how it goes.
PSS I actually finished in 88-days. The schedule allows two “off” days of your choosing, which I never needed.