In a spur of the moment decision, I began to read the Bible again this year with the intent to read it through in its entirety before the year is out.
Many people do this every year. I myself have done it many times.
The first time I did it was in elementary school. My dad told myself and all my siblings that if we read the entire Bible in one year, he'd give us $100 at the end of it. Looking back, I didn't exactly have the purest motivation for reading through the Bible, but I did it. I got that $100 at the end of the year and I was pretty darn proud of myself.
Since that first time in elementary school, I have read through the Bible from start to finish numerous times. I'm not really sure how many, but I know it's been at least a half dozen.
And, as I said, this year, I made a spur of the moment decision to do it again.
What prompted this decision?
Well, I'd been a little out of whack when it came to my time with the Lord and in Scripture. Even though I've been leading a small group since February, I wasn't spending the amount of time in the Word that I wanted to. It was often a priority very low on the list that got pushed to the next day if I was tired or busy. It had been an emotional couple of months and while I'd spent a lot of time in prayer, I was still feeling drained. I'd been praying a lot of the same thing over and over again and feeling no difference. I was frustrated. I was stagnant.
As I mentioned previously, the Sunday before New Year's, my pastor preached a sermon somewhat based on the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. And he pointed out something that I've never really considered — the only resolutions truly worth making are the ones that will affect eternity.
In other words, while it is a good thing to resolve to manage your money better, eat healthier, exercise more, etc., the only resolutions that truly matter are the ones related to our spiritual life. The resolutions that make us change and grow for the better, grow closer to Christ, and bring Him more glory.
We're three weeks into the new year now, and I've already been so amazed by the countless little things that the Lord has been showing me through His word. I'm still in the book of Exodus, so, in some respects I'm not even to the "good part" or rather, the books filled with exciting stories of battles and kings. And even through the books of Genesis and Exodus, each day, the Lord has been showing me new things about His character and reminding me of little details about who He is.
The book of Hebrews talks about how the Bible is "living and active." And I've been reminded this year, just how true that really is. It is a book that teaches you new things every time you read a passage of it. It is a book that teaches you new things with the same passage every time you read it based on the season of life you're in. And it is a book that will never, never be dull or boring or irrelevant. And that, to me, is an amazing thing.