I came to Christ during the Jesus Movement. For those of you too young to remember, that was a powerful time in the history of the American church. It was an enormous spiritual movement in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Young people by the droves came to Christ. Folk music style performers played before large audiences. Worship was powerful, real, anointed. And there were Bible studies in homes every night of the week. Back then, you got saved, you got a Bible and started reading it all the time.
I don’t hold myself out as a Bible scholar or anything close to it, and there have certainly been times during my Christian walk when I allowed dust to gather on the cover of my Bible. But that hasn’t been the norm, thank God. And I don’t say any of this to shame anyone. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, NLT) I say it only because I don’t understand. Why aren’t believers more in love with the Bible? Why are there believers in foreign lands like China or Egypt who are willing to die to get to own a Bible while believers in the west go days without feeding upon something that is sitting on their bookshelf or night stand?
I’ve read through the Bible in a year about eight times, but I have never tackled it in 90 days. I found the idea quite daunting when I first heard it. But how many of us take a year to read a big, fat juicy novel? Do we read our novels a page or even a few paragraphs at a time? I happen to be a slow reader because I do my pleasure reading at bedtime. I can tell you, that isn’t as enjoyable as back in the old days when I used to lay on the sofa on a Saturday and devour an entire book in a day.
All that to say that I am loving this one hour of reading each morning. I started on 12/31/05 so today I completed the reading for Day 5. I am listening to the Bible on my iPod while also reading the 90 Day Bible with my eyes, and this is helping enormously. I am amazed at how much more of the *big picture* I’m getting.
If you haven’t started, give it a try. It isn’t nearly as daunting as you might think. If you have started but have fallen behind, keep going and remember Romans 8:1. If you struggle with reading, the Bible on audio book is terrific (but it can be expensive). I understand you can listen to the KJV through Bible Gateway. You might give that a try.
Ask the Lord to make you hungry for His word. Keep asking until it happens. The Lord loves to answer the prayers of His children that are in His will, and this is definitely in His will. He wants you to hide His word in your heart.
Here are some reading tips from the Boise Vineyard who has taken the challenge as a congregation:
In the grip of His grace,
Robin
