Throughout the past year I have often thought, “It’s so hard to know what is true!” I frequently hear conflicting positions and arguments. From multiple angles, people speak, post, and blog to try to influence me towards their truth. In light of this experience, I have delighted to participate in reading the Bible through in a year this year. I am regularly receiving the only ultimate source of truth! And it is nourishing my soul.
Throughout my walk as a Christian, time spent soaking in God’s Word has been a frequent challenge for me. Sometimes it was hard to know where to start. If I was reading through a particular book of the Bible and missed a few days, I would forget what I had been reading. Sometimes I simply lacked the discipline to wake up earlier in the mornings.
My husband and sister both mentioned to me that they would be starting a 5-day a week Bible reading plan which seemed more doable to me. So I decided to give it a try! It has been such a sweet blessing to me! Each day has both Old and New Testament readings and a Psalm is included 2 or 3 days a week. The Old Testament is intended to go as close to chronologically as possible and the New Testament readings are sprinkled throughout in ways that compliment the Old Testament passages. I love it!
One day I was reading about Moses and Pharaoh and the plagues that God sent and then the Psalm corresponded to the plagues. (Psalm 105) As I was reading through Leviticus, the book of Hebrews came alive in a new way to see the ways it referred back to the law given in part in Leviticus.
And just this morning I was reading in Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a. “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” This choice was set before the Israelites thousands of years ago and yet the choice is before me today as well. I can choose life or death. I can live for my own glory and yell at my kids when they get in the way of my plans for peace and productivity. Or I can love the Lord, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him, even when my kids are screaming at each other and me and I’m cleaning up spills and toys all day.
Being in both the Old and New Testament frequently shows me 2 things: what God values and man’s response. I continue to see that God is holy and righteous and His plans are never thwarted. He hates sin and takes it very seriously. I am frequently sobered after reading the Scriptures and reminded that God is not mine to control. I am also sobered by the frequent responses of the men and women in the Old Testament. They rebel, complain, and seek their own ways A LOT! It reminds me of my sin nature and my frailty. And it points me to run to the holy God whose plans are always victorious.
I am amazed how often I will read something from either the Old or New Testament and think, “Wow, that is exactly the opposite of what the world would say today!” It is so easy to be inoculated with the world’s morality and ways of thinking. I treasure these Scriptures and pray that I will always be able to have a copy of God’s Word with me to remind me of these precious truths I forget so quickly!
I commend to you today: fill your mind with God’s Word! And if you’re interested in finding a good plan to read the Bible in a year, I would love to help!
– Kim
Real Moms. Real Life. 