My
team and I have made a commitment to read the Bible, cover to cover
in 4 months. Why 4 months you might ask? Well 3 months are too
short, and we didn’t have 5 months left, so 4 seemed perfect!
It
all started with Alison and I discussing our faith on the car ride
back from taking Tara to the airport on Dec. 27th. She
told me a story about a man who was agnostic but had a life goal of
reading the entire Bible. So he read it through in 3 months and by
the end was a believer! Such a cool story, yet God really convicted
me through it. I certainly had never read the entire Bible. In
fact, if I were going to be honest, there are books of the Bible that
I didn’t even know existed… (Obadiah…who?!) I expressed this
to Alison, and she agreed that it was important to read the whole
Bible, and she had never done it either. We had both attempted at
one time or another on the 1 year plan, but without someone to do it
with, we quickly got behind and then stopped altogether. The more we
discussed, the more convicted we were so we made a decision that we
were going to keep each other accountable and read the Bible in 4
months, finishing before we left Africa.
I
was so excited that the next day I sat down and wrote out the
schedule. We started January 1st and will end April 30th,
exactly 120 days. As I was making the schedule, Nadia inquired about
it, and when I told her our plan she got excited and asked if she
could do it to. It grew from there and now our entire team is
reading the Bible through together.
I
was nervous at first about the Old Testament… especially Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy, yet we often read out loud with one another
which not only made the tedious parts more bearable, but brought the
Old Testament to life. I love hearing what God has taught or is
teaching one of my sisters about certain passages. He is opening my
eyes to new parts of the Bible and exciting my heart more for Him
each day. Even though I find most of the Old Testament laws and
stories overwhelming and some disturbing, I am more grateful (if that
were possible) each day that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus
to come to Earth and die for us, thus fulfilling the law. PRAISE
HIM!!! I have been praying and seeking to know God more, to have a
Mary heart, fully focused on Him. He knows me so intricately, and I
long to deeply know God, really KNOW Him, not just about Him. The
more I read His word, the more He opens my eyes to who He is, but
more so, who I am in Him. It is a wonderful experience, and the more
I know Him, the more my heart yearns for Him and to know Him and His
abounding love more each day.
Yesterday
we read Ruth. I get more and more out of her story and faith each
time I read that book. God really speaks to me through her. Today
we begin 1 Samuel!! So excited!!
So
please pray for us, that we will keep each other accountable through
the next 3 months, that we will see this as a joy each day and never
a burden or obligation, and that God would continue to open up new
aspects of Himself to us and through this endeavor we will grow more
in Him, as we already are. Also, if a certain book or person in the Bible has spoken heavily to you, e- mail or comment about it, I love hearing others views and faith, it encourages and opens mine as I read through His word.
King
David… Here I come!!!!
