A Good Thing: Journeying Through The Bible-In-A-Year
What good thing came from the year 2020? Maybe as you think on it, it’s hard to pinpoint a few things or even one thing that was good in this year.
Back in December of 2019, I would never have predicted the health issues, division, and unrest that would soon take place in the year ahead. I still remember being excited for the new year and the idea of starting something fresh in 2020. I think we all had a vision of something being birthed in the new year, and maybe something still is, we just haven’t seen the fruit of it yet.
It was at the end of 2019, when I found myself staring at my New Living Translation Study Bible (a Christmas gift from my husband). The Bible itself was huge with all the commentary, maps, detailed timelines, tables of ancient weights and measurements, and so on.
The thought of reading the entire book seemed intimidating as I measured its size with my eyes. I had just nicely placed each of the tabs to mark the 66 books. Gently turning the pages, I skimmed each of those books.
“Could I read through all of this in a year?” I thought.
Over the last 10 years, I was sure that I had read every single book in the Bible at some point in time. My husband and I had participated in studies, men’s and women’s groups, and we had done Bible studies on our own. Our relationship and love for the Lord had only grown in the time since we had accepted Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior.
But we still hadn’t taken the plunge to read through the entire Bible in a year. Many people had suggested it to us over the years; we just never really committed to it. Our lives were busy- young kids, changing schedules, jobs, ad so forth. But whose life wasn’t busy?
It was New Year’s Eve when I opened up the YouVersion Bible app on my phone and found a chronological year-long Bible plan. I figured, why not? Let’s go for it. When I asked my husband, he confirmed he was on board too.
We took on the chronological plan because it was a different approach from how we’d read through certain books of the Bible in the past. It would allow us to work through the Bible in sequential order. The online plan through the YouVersion Holy Bible app helped guide us to stay on track. The reading each day took roughly 10-15 minutes.
Listening via audio was also available. This was especially nice when we were reading through Chronicles and some of the longer Old Testament books. I also found it helpful to change up how I was receiving God’s Word each day. It was a nice change of pace to sometimes listen instead of read or do a combination of both.
I didn’t want the time in God’s Word to become a meaningless ritual; I desired for that time to be a rhythm of intentional relationship with the Father.
As the year progressed, I found myself craving not only that morning time with the Lord, but craving time with Him throughout the day. I began praying and acknowledging God while I was doing the dishes, walking the dog, or driving in the car. The Holy Spirit would naturally work through the conversations with our children whether it was discipline, driving to school, or quality time on the couch. And we found ourselves desperately turning to the Lord during the uncertainty of my husband’s job and unexpected health issues. I even found myself boldly praying for people as the Spirit-led. The Lord was naturally leading us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). It didn’t matter the circumstances; we were learning to be more reliant on the Lord.
It wasn’t that we suddenly became holy, perfect people by reading through the Bible, but our worldview was changing the more we understood the love of the Father. We were becoming more and more dependent on Him in all areas of our life. And we were becoming more and more thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross which undeservedly took away all our sins.
Moving into the month of December once again, it’s hard to believe there’s roughly 30 days left to go in our year-long plan. I’m so grateful that my husband and I committed to this journey of reading through the Bible. It’s truly helped me to grow in love for the Lord. With all of the hardships in this year, it’s been amazing reading about the Lord’s faithfulness and His love for us.
The Year-Through-the-Bible plan has been exactly what I needed this year. It has been the good thing that has pointed me back to our Good Father.
Reflection:
- When was the last time you opened up a Bible?
- How often do you choose to read the Bible?
- Have you read through the Bible in a year? If so, how often have you done this?
- When was the first time you read through the Bible?
Just a reminder, you don’t have to be a Christian to read the Bible.
Resources:
Photo by Rachel Coyne on Unsplash
Great job! Though I’ve read the Bible through several times, I think I’ve only managed to follow a one year plan once or twice. Seems I keep getting caught up in a subject or chapter and before you know it my plan is shot! Oh well, I say whatever works to keep us in the Word is what we should be doing.
Thanks for sharing, Ron. Yes, I saved several notes and other Bible plans I want to dive into this next year. There were definitely times I stopped to dive in more, and sometimes I didn’t. I’m so thankful that God enabled me to stick with it this year. I appreciate His Story all the more! His Word is so good!
Thank you for sharing and for the links—I Ike how it took me directly to the app/year long plan. Can’t wait to dive in. It “bothered” me as a kid that the Bible didn’t follow a linear, chronological path 😉
Haha, yes, I like the idea of reading in sequential order too. Thanks for the comment, Ann. 😊