For many of us, we will start reading the Bible on this first day of the year. But this journey started many years ago for me. Some 55 years ago, I wanted to be a published writer and hopefully people would buy what I’d written. I did not know the Lord back then but, He knew me. He let me go my own way for a while because He does not force Himself upon anyone.
Almost 13 years later, I came to know Jesus in a personal way. He became Lord of my life, my Master and certainly my Savior. Because of His great love for me, I am what I am today.
As a new follower of Christ Jesus, I wanted to know Him more deeply. I started at the beginning of the Bible, Genesis is such an exciting book! But when I told a fellow Christian what I was doing, she explained to me that you can’t just read the Bible, we must study it. That was the end of my getting to know God’s Word. I hadn’t been raised as a Christian so I didn’t know the Bible stories that many know. I listened to sermons, to studies in person and on the radio but could not relate.
Four years after I had been saved, a wonderful Christian sister, who was teaching a women’s Sunday school class, challenged our class to read through the Bible, even if it takes five years. She explained that we all need to know the whole Word of God so we know what the Pastor is preaching about, so when we study, we have a better understanding.
That, my friends, was the beginning of my reading through the Bible year by year.
Today I continue to read through the Bible in a year. Many of you may have noticed that “Faithful Promises of God” only has 321 days of reading through the Bible. Believe me, it was not me who came up with this. Each day that I read, I asked God to give me the number of Chapters we are to read, then I asked Him to guide me in what to say about what we’ve read. So, it was His guidance that came up with 321 days. As I have read through the Bible each year, I have missed days, and then struggled to get caught up so I could finish at the end of the year. God guided me to get through the Bible in 321 days so that relieves you of the pressure to catch up, you miss a day or two then go back and continue reading. You still will finish reading the Bible within a year.
One last thought, as I have read through the Bible numerous times, God has continued to teach me how to live my life. I read and see new insight each day. His Word is ever living and walks us through our life, it is for today as well as yesterday and tomorrow. I am excited for you to take this journey! If God can call a sinner such as I (saved by His Grace), and fulfill a dream of a young 15-year-old girl, then He will take your hand and show you what you need to know each day through His Word. I want to hear from you, what God has shown you, your adventure of living a Christ-centered life.
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