Ongoing and Never Ending Reading

I seem to have started a number of posts about reading of late and it seems to be remiss of me not to mention a book that I am always reading. I've read it countless times now, and I'm still going back.

It's The Bible.

Since I committed to following Jesus in 2004, I've read The Bible fairly consistently. Sometimes with a plan, sometimes not. In some seasons of my life, I'm there every day, other times, not so much. I'm still amazed that I can read it and find new things, and that I'll still be learning new things.

The times in my life that I've been doing a quiet time (which is to say, intentionally spending time reading God's word and praying each day), are absolutely the times that I have had the most growth as a person. It seems strange to me that there are times where I prioritize other things above it, and then usually decline, but I'm only human I guess.

After reading The Bible through chronologically (did you know that it's not actually chronological to start with?), in 2012, I had a huge break from reading with any kind of system or routine. I guess that's what having a baby or two will do. In 2017, I completed a "Through the Bible" reading plan with the help of being accountable to a friend and an app that told me what to read each day.

Last year I did a Bible Project reading plan, again, through the whole book in one year. I think I did the Psalms twice actually. If you've never heard of The Bible Project, I can not recommend their videos enough. For beginners or old timers their resources are so fantastic. Go check them out. Do it now.

This year I'm doing another Bible Project reading plan, but this time just the New Testament. It's a lot slower going than I'm used to. If you go through The Bible in a year, you are reading about four chapters of the Old Testament, a Psalm and a chapter of the New Testament a day. Only doing the New Testament means so much less daily reading.

But it's been good, to go slower. To spend more time with Jesus directly. To really think about what he is teaching, and how it is so upside down and counter cultural, both then when he said it, and now today.

Next year I'd like to go through the whole lot again, but read the Message version, which is a different translation of the original. Just to mix it up.

Have you ever read The Bible? It's pretty full on, but has so much to say about the story of a creator God who loves his people, and time and time again, wants to build a relationship with them. It's something that I will read again and again, because I need to be reminded all the time.

This quote that a friend shared a while ago really resonates with me now as I reflect on this:

"Some truths we only need to hear once, and they sear themselves across your soul like a red-hot iron, changing your life forever. 

Other truths we need to hear again and again, like water dripping on a rock, slowly washing away the sediment of lies that keep trying to build up, until finally the lies are forgotten and only the truth remains. 

The Gospel is both kinds of truth."