Wonderful Words Of Life

Why I Read The Bible


If I have not mentioned it before, I should state that I graduated with a music degree from a Christian college.  My college choir has long observed a tradition of awarding a graduating senior a very special gift every spring.  Seniors must meet certain criteria to be eligible for the award, and then a vote is taken to determine the recipient.  The award is known as the Choir Bible.  My senior year, the Choir Bible was presented to me at the annual spring picnic.  I cried tears of joy and gratitude as I accepted this meaningful gift, humbled and overwhelmed…and ashamed.

I felt ashamed because I was not much of a Bible reader.  I felt undeserving of such an honor because, at that point in my life, although I had been a Christian for years, the Bible was something I grabbed on my way out the door either to church or to one of my religion classes.  I knew that there were seniors in my choir who managed to have a personal quiet time and devotions every day and would have really benefited from a new Bible.  The irony of the situation was not lost on me.  I don’t know what made me think to do it, but I brought that Bible in the following week, requesting that my choir-mates sign it, and those signatures and notes mean more to me with every passing year.  I began my adult exploration of God’s Word with this Bible, and years ago when I worked in Christian radio, I wagged it to work with me every day, marking passages to use in my on-air devotions.  The cover got so shabby that I sent it to be re-bound a number of years ago.

Over the years, I have become much more of a Bible reader, generally reading through it yearly.  In 2010, I joined a Bible in 90 Days Challenge group on Facebook that my college roomie was doing, (the roomie who, during our college/dorm years, read her Bible daily, first thing in the morning, without fail) and since then I have read the Bible through twice yearly, doing the 90 Day Challenge from June through August and my regular daily reading through the rest of the year (knock wood and Lord willing I will finish this year’s chosen version as well!).  Long ago I discovered that there are many Bibles formatted to be read through in a year.  Some give daily sections of Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs, while others go straight through.  Some have a devotion included with each day’s reading.  In 2011, I read a chronological version which divides the text up into the order that the events occurred.  I enjoyed the new perspective of the chronological version a great deal and passed it along to Bonus Mom to read this year when she expressed interest in doing it.
 
I have learned that in about 15 minutes a day, I can read through the entire Bible in a year’s time.  And I have learned that it is the single most worthwhile investment of time I can make.  Over the years that I’ve been reading regularly, gradual differences have started to show up in my life.  I find that I am a much more peaceful person now, less twitchy and obsessive about a lot of the things that used to make me crazy.  I still spin my wheels from time to time, but way less than I used to.  My prayers are different as well, taking little moments more often just to speak to God and try to listen to Him.

I have always been a re-reader, going back to revisit books that I have loved, and it always seems like when I read something for a second (or third, or fourth…) time, I pick up details that I did not catch the previous time.  The Bible is like that, too, more than any other reading I have ever done.  Every time I go through it, I glean more bits of truth than I did the time before.  Maybe my life situation is different and now a verse comes alive in a new way.  Maybe I have experienced a loss or a joy that God speaks to in a fresh way through a familiar passage.  I understand much better now why the older people in my family reached for the Bible in times of sorrow, because I find myself following their lead.  When I need comfort, God has given it in His Word.

I need to make a few disclaimers here, because I am no goody-two-shoes and I don’t claim to be.  I know I’m a black-hearted varmint.  My Bible reading doesn’t make me any less of a varmint.  It makes me conscious of how blessed I am to love the God Who loved me first, and Who loves me still, in spite of my many faults and failings, forgiving me and giving me new chances, new mercies and new blessings without ceasing.

I have unbelieving friends, and I have believing friends who don’t read the Bible.  I don’t use my Bible to beat them over the head.  What I hope to learn from my Bible is how to love them better.