My journey through the Bible
I have always heard it is important to “be in the Word”. Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. I cannot remember the exact day I started to make it a habit to read the Bible but I do believe I was in my 20s. I considered myself a Christian but was very much in the world. I was living with an abusive boyfriend, smoking marijuana, and doing almost anything to get by financially. I was depressed, anxious, angry, and full of fear. I knew peace was possible because I had felt it before. I felt Gods love before, when I was an early teenager, and my neighbor took me to church. I knew I wanted this again but didn’t know how to get there when I felt so screwed up. I knew going back to church would not be an option, my boyfriend at the time would never allow it. So, at night, one chapter at a time I started to read the Bible. I didn’t know where to start, so I started in the beginning, Genesis. Now, I am 35 years old and still reading a chapter a day. I am sure I have missed days over the years but I try to make it a point to read at least one chapter a day. If my toddler wakes up too early one morning, then I read at night after she goes to bed. I take the same Bible on every trip, wherever I sleep, so does my Bible. Currently I have made it to Luke. And just as so many times before. This book has met me where I am at. God has let me know that he understands our challenges here on earth and he will get us through every single one.
Example:
I have put off starting this blog for years. I didn’t have time. I loathe writing. I am not qualified to give advice or opinion on anything when most of my life feels like it is in shambles. I don’t even know what to write about. Well, wouldn’t you know I am reading Luke. Luke 12:12 states “At that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.” Of course, the context for this quote is completely different than what to write for a Blog but it spoke to my heart just the same. It gave me peace in knowing God will always help me and guiding me.
When I finally made it through the Old Testament and Started the New Testament this year I remember texting my husband telling him I was dreading it. He, of course, asked why. I explained to him I didn’t want to read about Jesus being tortured and killed and Revelations seems terrifying. Obviously, as a Christian I know Jesus had to die for my sins and have heard it preached many times. However, reading it in the Bible on my own seemed so sad. My husband put it simply, the “New Testament is the good news.. No need to be nervous.” He is right, the New Testament is where Jesus died because God loves us so much. We have new life because of what happened in the New Testament. The New Testament is truly The Good News.
So, why is reading The Bible important? Because God uses His word to guide us.
The Bible is God’s word. He left it for us so that we may know Him and His heart. God wants us to know that he understands the world is hard and evil. He provided the Bible to give us guidance and wisdom for our lives. MOST importantly God gave us the Bible to let us know how much He loves us. Psalm 199:105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
God speaks to us if we listen. I cannot say how many times I have read the Bible and God has spoken to me through it. Sometimes it is a gentle reminder not to be anxious, that He is in control. Other times it is a reality check of somewhere in my life that needs to be given to Him. Timothy 3:15-17 states “Since you were a child you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scriptures is given by God and is useful for teaching, for showing how to live right. Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work.”
Pray before reading the Bible
This is something new to me. I would often thank God for the reading of his word but never prayed anything more. I was recently scrolling through Instagram and saw a post about praying for wisdom before reading the Bible. Praying before reading is now something I try to make a conscious part of my routine for reading the Bible. My prayer goes a little something like: “Lord, thank you for giving me your word. I pray you give me excitement and focus to read and learn from you. Please give me open ears, heart, and mind so I may hear from you. Lord, please reveal to me anything you want me to know. I ask for wisdom to comprehend and understand your word and its application to my life. Lord give me strength to make any changes you lead me to. Amen.”
Future Bible reading goals:
While reading through the Bible wasn’t even a goal of mine when I first started reading, now it is a labor of love. I look forward to reading every day. I plan to continue reading my Bible one or two chapters at a time until I read all the way through. After I am done I have heard of reading Bible plans that guide you through reading the Bible in a year or year in a half and I really look forward to doing this!
What has reading the Bible done for me?
As I mentioned above, so many times God has met me where I am through reading his word. It could be showing me an area of my life I need to give to him or giving me comfort in times of turmoil. God’s word has provided me consistency when I had none. It gave me peace when I could not find it anywhere else. Most importantly it taught me love when I didn’t understand what that was.
“In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1