As Lysa concluded her blog, she explained a month after giving her bible to the man on the airplane he called to tell her he had taken a week off work to read it and had shared his testimony with numerous people. As I read those words, my entire being was convicted. This man knew the news he had been given about the Lord was so great that he had to know more. He felt it was so important to know more that he took a week, AN ENTIRE WEEK, off work just to read the bible.
Embarrassed.
Ashamed.
Unworthy.
Undeserving.
Guilty.
Repentant.
Those are the emotions I felt as I realized I had never once felt the passion and drive this man felt to set EVERYTHING in his life aside just to be with our sweet Jesus.
That Sunday, I got up to go to church to hear that our pastor was challenging the church body to read the entire bible in 2 months. Yup, 60 days! The pastor partnered the challenge with the words "If you spend at least 1 hour in your bible a day, you can do it." 1 hour doesn't seem like much when you think about a 24 hour day. Surely we can manage to find time for 1 hour of reading but when you had 8 hours of sleep, an 8 hour work day (more like 10 or 12 for some of you) and the other tedious tasks throughout the day, that 1 hour may feel a little overwhelming. I thought about all the 365 day reading plans out there to get through the bible in 1 year and I laughed because instead of being hesitant to take the challenge, I was more than excited.
I took the challenge that day and next week will wrap up my 60 day challenge of reading the bible all the way through. This challenge has completely changed my life, my relationship with the Lord and my attitude toward so many things. I know there are others of you who are driven by the same competitive nature inside of me so I want to challenge you to join me in the 60 day challenge. Pick up your bible and spend some amazing quality time with the Lord you won't be able to ignore. Let him move your heart and speak to you through passages you've read in the past and new words you've never laid eyes on. Open your heart and mind to the things He desires to say to you through words written so long ago and be receptive to what you are hearing. I promise you one thing, if you will allow Him to, God is about to move in your life in a mighty way!
A few suggestions as you embark upon this challenge;
- Pray. Pray before your time with the Lord asking Him to remove distractions and help you to focus on the things He wants you to hear. Pray that your heart and mind will be open and that you will listen and remember what He is revealing to you.
- Journal. One of the things I learned in Equipped Disciple is that if you underline or mark a verse it is because the Lord is speaking to your heart and you should take time to meditate on that verse. As I read now, each time I mark something in my bible, I write the verse down in a notebook, thank the Lord for speaking to my heart and write why this verse moved me. When you do this it sinks in more and God is really able to use what He is revealing to you in a bigger way.
- Find an accountability partner. Satan is really good at making us feel defeated and want to give up. Find someone you can take this challenge with who can help push and motivate you to finish and not give up.
- Don't save the old testament for last :) This seems silly but it's so true. The old testament can be difficult to read sometimes and many of us are guilty of avoiding it or reading it less than the new testament. I would highly encourage you to read 2 to 3 New testament books and then read one of the harder old testament books after that.
I don't have an outline or schedule I followed, I just read as my heart lead but if you would like my help or suggestions I would be more than happy to send them to you. Happy reading everyone!
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