Finding the motivation to read the Bible was always something I’ve struggled with as long as I’ve been a Christian. I’ve always disliked reading and I would just rather find other ways to spend intimate time with God like listening to worship music, sitting and praying, or going on a prayer walk. I thought being on this journey would in itself help gain a greater desire to read but up until month 8 that wasn’t the case.
Then things started to change. In the middle of our downtime last “manistry” month (last month in Malaysia), as guys we talked about how cool it would be to have read the Bible all the way through by the end of the race. So we set individual goals for ourselves. Ethan and Mack were going to start from the beginning and read cover to cover. Zach had started a reading plan from the beginning of the race which strategically jumps around focusing on a different part of the Bible each day of the week (if you want to see that one refer to my blog titled “Christmas in Prison”). I had decided to make my own plan. The plan was to read it all in 100 days.
As I mentioned above my hope from the beginning of the race was to grow in my desire to get in the word. I had started plans before (including one last Christmas) that just fell by the wayside. As I started the plan this time I prayed God would give me the desire and motivation to read.
God answered that prayer in greater ways than I could have hoped for! The day I started I read what I was supposed to read days 1,2, and 3 and I was actually enjoying it. I ended up reading the first 20% in 5 days. Though I didn’t keep up that pace, today I finished the Bible on day 40. I never read out of obligation or when I didn’t want to, but I always read when my heart was in it. This led to reading a variety of chapters a day. Including one day I read 1 chapter and then a couple days later I read 100. When I look back on the race I will view having read the whole Bible through for the first time as being one of my greatest accomplishments on this journey. This first time through I was reading for general understanding and I learned a lot from it. I’m very excited to make a new plan where I will take more time to read it through and pull out more of the beauty found in the details.
The following is an attachment to both the original plan I used and how much I actually read each day.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R5-WjO24tuTc0nVZuSgeyh_OVaQwW4QC6RuNZbjDQY0
My top 10 Takeaways.
10.Hearing what God had to say to Job in chapters 38-41
9.There is more to 1 & 2 Chronicles than lineage. And even in the monotonous nature of the lineage their is beauty in how much the Bible values knowing where you came from and who your family is.
8.”God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Acts 19:11-12 NIV
7.Reading more about David
6.Proverbs: The wisdom God gave Solomon is so profound
5.Hebrews 11 “Faith in Action”
4.Acts is still my favorite book in the Bible. Seeing the Holy Spirit move is an amazing thing!
3.Ecclesiastes was a book I had never read before but is now my favorite Old Testament book.
2.Actually enjoying reading!
1.Reading how God consistently and relentlessly pursues and loves us.
At the end of the day, it wasn’t the environment here on the race that motivated me to read, but instead it was partially having people around me who encouraged me and more importantly praying for God to give me the desire to read. I know for sure I’m not the only one how has struggled with getting in the word every day. My prayer for you is you find people to commit with you to reading it and God gives you the desire to do so.
