The Challenge

One of my first goals for 2011 was to read through the Bible in 30 days. It replaced my goal of reading through the Bible twice and quickly became a very important goal because of what God was asking of me.

I learned so much from doing this, and I must admit I did not start this journey with a very good attitude. I don't think I grumbled about it, but I reluctantly said OK to trying to do it. It really taught me a lot--even outside of the things I was actually reading everyday. I started on this journey after thinking I would build up to doing this, and then I finally decided there was no time like the present to take the plunge. I guess I finally decided that life was never going to get less busy so why not do it now?

I wanted to share with you some things I believed about reading the Bible in 30 days that actually turned out to be lies about it. Of course by sharing I also realize that I'm opening myself up to the same critique that I put others through who have done this when I had never done it, but that's ok. So if you've thought about doing this and have just never taken the plunge or maybe this is your first time to hear about it, I encourage you to be better than I was and keep an open mind (heart) about it.

• It's only for the super-spiritual. This statement can actually come from two different feelings--awe or sarcasm. I think mine came from awe. I get excited when I see God doing something wonderful in someone else's life but sometimes have a hard time believing He wants to do wonderful things in my life too.
• I don't have time to read through in 30 days. I've been using time excuses for about 19 years now--ever since I got my first job. I was a 16 year old junior in high school, working as a waitress, and I was often working until 11:00 p.m. during the week and until midnight on weekends. I was active in school activities and had a social life, but it was my church life that suffered. I wasn't even a believer then, but I knew from my parents what were supposed to be my priorities in life. I think when we get busy it's our spiritual life that gets cut first. We feel that we have so many other responsibilities that we have to make sure get done that it's ok to cut back on the part of our life that nobody sees. Nobody sees our quiet time--except we seem to forget that God does. Another note here--when you look for time to do something it's amazing to see how much time we waste on things like email, facebook, texting, the telephone, entertainment, etc. and how many opportunities God gives us time to spend with Him. I was out shopping one day and had to make an un-planned stop at the Isuzu service center to get something fixed on the truck. They told me they didn't know how long it would take. I could have sat there and talked on my cell phone or spent the time watching the t.v. in the waiting area, but I saw it as an opportunity to read. I had my Bible with me because I had learned that if I expected God to give me the opportunity to complete the challenge I was going to have to be prepared for those opportunities.
• I have to fit my Bible reading around everything else I have to do. I found that committing such a large chunk of my day to reading the Bible changed how I viewed other items in my to-do list. Suddenly if I wanted to watch a movie with Rusty on the weekend, it meant I had to have more discipline in the other hours of the day. It was about getting my Bible reading done first or being caught up enough so that I could watch the movie instead of watching the movie first and hoping I was still awake enough at the end to read a couple of chapters in the Bible.
• I won't be able to remember anything I read. I found the exact opposite to be true. Because I was reading so quickly, the Old Testament in particular made a lot more sense. The prophets were easier to understand because just a few days before I had read other corresponding scriptures in the earlier books. I found more Scripture was being applied in my life because I was taking the time to discuss what I was reading with Rusty. I was thinking about it all through the day.

• If I spend so much time with God I won't be able to get my work done or spend time ministering to people inside or outside of my home. We had Bro. Lynn and Ms. Brenda for a visit last year and something they said really stuck with me. Well I often learn important things from them, but this one in particular plays a part in my challenge. If I don't maintain a strong (healthy) personal relationship with Jesus myself, I'm not going to be effective in ministry. If I'm not getting fed, I won't be able to pour out to others. Maybe we get tired in ministry sometimes because we're not feeding our personal relationship with Him. Also, I found when I was more disciplined with my quiet time, I felt that I had more time throughout the month to minister--and more opportunities too.

I really enjoyed this experience, and I'm glad I quit putting this off. It was hard to write this blog though because I know some will discount what I've said just like I did before I did it. But if you haven't tried it, I encourage you to try it. You might just find out it doesn't take as long per day as you think it does, and you might find out you were believing some lies about it too. We all have excuses--why not see if God can help you get past them?