I’ve been reading recently that 2020 will be considered, by many, to be the year of the Bible. Honestly, every year is the year of the Bible; however, the idea is to focus on reading the Bible.
Many Christians seem to read self-help books written by other Christians or even explanations about the books of the Bible rather than reading and studying the Book itself. While reading those other books may be beneficial, the word of God is in the actual Holy Bible.
It behooves us to spend some part of every day, if possible, reading a portion of it. It could be a chapter or simply a verse. It could be whatever works with your life.
About two years ago, my husband and I found a plan for reading the Bible in 52 weeks. It didn’t necessarily start with the first week of January (though it did have that listed), it started with Week 1. Our thought was to finish it in 52 weeks, then shingles took its toll on me.
I could barely sit up, let alone hold a Bible or bend forward to look at one on a table. For nine months that put reading the Bible beyond me. During that time, I was becoming more and more filled with sorrow for what I could not do anymore.
My husband found the same translation of the Bible on the iPhone store and purchased it for me to read. I could kind of hold a phone but it was difficult. I found a holder on a hand-crafting site and purchased it. It holds my phone upright and I can read it from a sitting position.
I was back to reading and six months later, we both finished reading the Bible. It took two years because of the delay but we were very glad that we had done it.
This time around, we will be reading it in the same order but will take our time and plan to finish it in two years as well. This time, we will access all of the information that is part of this translation (Amplified Study Bible) because of the wealth of information it has and how much it provides clarity to obscure references.
It is almost as good as a good, old-fashioned Bible Study. Those seem to have gone by the wayside in deference to life groups, which are small groups that meet in homes.
I’ve now finished the first day of reading (taking two days to do it) and have read Genesis 1-2, Psalms 19 and Mark 1. I was filled with awe over the beauty and lyrical words of the first two chapters of creation. I was swept up in the praise of God in Psalms 19. The first chapter of Mark gives a view of the beginning of Jesus Christ’s ministry.
If nothing else, I highly suggest reading these chapters. If you can convince someone else to read them, that would be wonderful. I would especially challenge those who aren’t really sure that God exists to spend time and to read these chapters. It explains much of God in just a few words.
The other thing that is part of the year of the Bible is that individuals and groups are working to translate the entire Bible into the last 1,800 or so languages which don’t currently have full Bible translations. That is a wonderful project and one that I pray is successful in the course of the next few years.
The word of God will be preached throughout the world before Jesus comes back for his church. It is written in the Bible and it is true. Those who work at this task deserve respect and help from the rest of us.
Whenever you feel like you can’t do something or things that need to be done are beyond you, remember there is something that you can always do to help others.
You can pray.
Praying with power comes with knowledge. True knowledge only comes from God. One of the most powerful ways that God speaks his wisdom to us is through his Word. Find a Bible that you can read and then, read it. You will find blessings from God are within the Book. He is there waiting for you to discover what he has in store for you.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.