February 1 - March 31. Those dates did not begin as my Bible reading schedule but as I finished up Revelation Monday morning I thanked God for the tremendous blessing of my first (of many!) journey of reading through the entire Bible in 60 days.Only God knew the unbelievably perfect timing for this venture. Only He knew the trials and fire which would fill those two months. I could not have planned to begin reading Job just minutes before a heart-breaking phone call; I did not realize at the beginning I would get to read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John during the celebration of His Resurrection. God blessed me. His provision and love are abundant and beautiful to me!
Originally my goal was 90 days. A couple weeks ago I began playing with the idea of pushing myself to finish by March 31. My goal of reading through all the Gospels by Easter gave me the extra impetus needed to harness my so often-distracted mind and focus.
Have you ever read through Romans, or 1 & 2 Corinthians in one sitting? Paul's arguments are masterfully built. Reading his letters as a whole instead of in chapter or verse bits makes that clear. The opportunity for a broad overview of Scripture combined with the speed which was set gave me some deeper understanding of portions of the Prophets as well as the almost continuous OT allusions in the New Testament. Instead of only knowing that a given verse was a quote from the Old Testament because of a footnote, I found myself remembering which book, even which chapter the quotation came from. Isaiah 54. Genesis 21. Daniel 11. Ezekiel 28. After all, I had read the Old Testament only a few days ago!
Today I finished Revelation 21 and closed my new-three-months-ago but now-very-worn Bible with a mixture of wistfulness and triumph. Now I am free to dive into some serious study that has been put on hold. That part makes me glad. But I so enjoyed this that I know I am going to be doing it again at least once a year. Perhaps after a few months off I will start again and see if I can do another read-through in 2008. Believe me, it is addicting!
I wonder if we do not often intimidate ourselves too much over the thought of reading “the whole Bible.” Speaking as a voracious reader, it is not that long. Shorter than a Hugo or Tolstoy novel. Much more valuable for our spirits and minds. We’ve been given a precious treasure in God’s Word–let’s remember that and revel in it with every opportunity we are given.
- Written March 31
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19 comments:
What an accomplishment!
Congratulations Natalie!
I decided to read nothing but my Bible during 2008. I am almost done 1 Kings and am reaping many of the same benefits that you described. Once I have finished reading it from Genesis to Revelations I plan on doing in depth studies of each book. I can also devour a Tolstoy size novel rather quickly but find myself wanting to move slowly through the Bible and savour it. I am looking forward to looking back over 2008 and seeing what God has taught me.
I've been reading about the NET Bible with much curiosity...I've compared some passages of it with my trusted old NASB, and it really flows nicely. I'd like to get one, but everything I've ever memorized has been NASB, so I'm hesitant to read anything else...
What made you decide to make the change, Natalie?
Thanks for the inspiration! I agree, it's so interesting to be able to recall the Old Testament prophecies while reading about their fulfillment in the NT. One year is challenging enough for me! Usually I like to go sloow and savour, but I will keep your idea in mind.
Totally awesome!! I'm looking at reading through the bible in 90 days sometime soon and your article definitely encouraged me to do it!
Ps42 (wish I knew your name :)),
It is not that I have "switched" from using just one version to using just another version. I have old and new NASB, ESV, the NET bible, and sometimes other translations that I all use regularly. They each have different choices in why they translated as they did. Though I do not always agree with the NET Bible's rendering, what makes it so helpful and interesting are the extensive notes--literally tens of thousands of notes that you would not find in any other Bible. For someone like me who does not know much Hebrew or Greek, it is very helpful in study. I am glad I chose to do my read-through in the NET because it was a way to get a fresh look at the Scripture--in a translation I have not memorized or studied nearly as much as the NASB.
Sorry, Natalie! My name is Stephanie. I should change it in Blogger. And I agree with you- it's sometimes helpful to look at other translations for a fresh perspective. (Translations- not paraphrases!) Those thousands of study notes do sound pretty enticing! Do you often read all of the notes along with your reading, or do you just refer to them for further insight when something is unclear?
Wow, what I neat idea! I'd love to try this. Is there a schedule that I could go by or a website that you could direct me to?
Wow! May God bless you for your diligence!
I hope you are not finished with your wedding posts. Especially would like to know where you found such a beautiful, modest dress!
That is an awesome, amazing accomplishment, Natalie. Congratulations!
Thanks for all the encouragement you provide through YLCF!!!!
Laura
Beautiful post! Great accomplishment- it certainly inspires me to do the same!
Hi Stephanie :),
Yes, not paraphrases. ;) I am pretty firmly convinced in why I use what I do. It is fascinating to study how the text came to be translated as it has, what the variants might be, and what influenced the translators.
With most "study" Bibles I would mostly ignore the noes, but since the NET Bible is not commentary or devotional, but mostly textual and context that can be very helpful as you read, I like to read it all. Now on my Bible reading all the way through I did not do that or it would have taken three times as long! But in general, when I am reading shorter passages for devotions or Bible study, I use the notes and find them very insightful and it helps spur me on to study even further.
Cheri, On the link in the post it takes you to the start of where I have been posting weekly readings for the 90 day plan. I did not keep track of exactly how much I read each day to finish in 60....I just read every spare moment. But the 90 day plan is posted at Heartthoughtsretreat.org and there are just 3 weeks left.
Anonymous, as much as I wish it could be otherwise, I am afraid there will not be any more wedding posts. More on that later.
Natalie, wonderful post. I hope to do the same sometime soon. It has become embarrassing to me when someone asks me if I've read a certain passage or book of the bible and I say "I don't know." If I would just read all the way through, I wouldn't have that problem! Mostly, I wanted to ask a question: What exactly is Heart Thoughts Publications?
Everly
wow, this must be "ask Natalie a question" day. ;) I'm having fun though. Everly to answer you, HeartThoughts is the sister ministry to YLCF that I started a few years ago. The Publications is where we sell the YLCF back issues and the fiction and non-fiction books we have published, or that complement our books. The website is here:
www.ylcf.org/heartthoughts
Does that answer your question?
Please let us know when you'll be doing another quest to read the Bible in 3 months! I hope to be able to join you then! :) Debbie
Yes Natalie, thank you dearly for the answer. No more questions...today. ;)
Everly
Natalie i hope you don't mind yet another question :))
And i won't make this post as long as usual lol
but where can i find the NET bible?
I've found a couple of web sites with the NET bible..but where can i get an actual copy?
through amazon maybe?
or in any store?
do you have any ideas where i may get one?
Because i really liked the commentary i read from NET bible on that web site i found it was great!
Thank you again for all you do on this web site Natalie, you make it so personal and lovely on here :)
thank you for that!
Ok take care Natalie and everyone!
Blessings & HUGS :))
To God be all glory!
PTL
In Him, Jane.
Jane
You can order the Net Bible right on their website...I do not think you can get it elsewhere. It is very expensive if you get the version with all the notes, but I personally think it is a great investment. There is also a compact edition with the translation and a small amount of notes--and the size of that Bible is perfect for carrying around, putting in your purse, etc. It is what I used to do my 60 day read-through.
They are here:
First Edition (with 60,000 plus notes): http://store.bible.org/category.asp?CategoryID=7&ParentID=1
Compact Edition:http://store.bible.org/category.asp?CategoryID=49&ParentID=1
You are inspiring. Did you just divide the bible into sixty day segments? Or do you have a schedule? PLEASE TELL!
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