Last year at this time I was getting ready to start a life changing project. My sister-in-law Amy, challenged me to read The Bible in 90 Days. For years Amy had talked about how The Bible in 90 Days had changed her life and recommended it to anyone and everyone who would listen. Last fall she approached me and asked what I thought about her taking this challenge to the internet. I told her I thought it was a good idea and would help her promote it. I promoted it for her, and in the end agreed to join the January 2010 group.
At first I thought it was going to be terribly difficult, reading the entire bible in 3 months? I didn’t know how I would make the time to invest 45 minutes to an hour a day reading the bible. But then I realized that I probably wasted that much time every day doing things that were much less important than reading the bible. Once I started reading I thought it would be a piece of cake. I’ve read Genesis more times that I can count and I flew through the pages of familiar stories. I kept going, ending up a few days ahead of the group. Then I reached Numbers. It was hard, I struggled to stay focused during my reading time… but I kept going. I ended up reading the entire bible in 87 days. I find it hard to put into words how much this project challenged me, stretched me, inspired me, and blessed me.
If you ever thought you might want to read the entire bible consider reading it in 90 days. There are so many reasons why I think you should do it, but here are some of the things that impacted me.
You Read Through the Entire Bible
I have always found it strange when I meet people who don’t believe in Jesus, but have never read the bible. I’m not saying that reading the bible makes you believe, but how do you know you don’t believe in something if you have no knowledge of it? Conversely, I am surprised to meet Christians who have never read the bible or even significant portions of it. (I’m not talking about new Christians). Why would you follow Jesus, if you don’t know what he stands for?
You Read Through the Bible Quickly
Many people would argue too quickly. I disagree. I have read through the Bible in a year, and I got an entirely new perspective reading it in 90 days. You are able to see the big picture so much better, and all those names in the genealogies finally seem familiar because you are never too far away from something that happened earlier in the bible.
It Creates Self Discipline
This is a side benefit of reading the Bible in 90 Days. You are committed to setting aside almost an hour a day to read scripture. When finished you have 90 days worth of a very good habit.
You Learn A Lot About Yourself
I learned that I have a hard time reading through Psalms, I love the Old Testament, and that I need to memorize more scripture. I also learned that I can be a morning person when I put my mind to it.
Those are just a few of the things I learned by reading the Bible in 90 Days. If you are interested in reading with a group, which I highly recommend, Amy has a new group starting January 3, 2011. You can find out more about the Bible in 90 Days on her website, Mom’s Toolbox.
I’m going to join in with you guys one of these times. I have read through the whole thing before thanks to New and Old Testament courses in college. But we have a baby due in March of next year, and I know I won’t be able to keep up and will just get discouraged after that.
I would like to join in. Can you post a reminder about this before it starts? With the holidays and everything going on, I don’t want this to slip my mind. I really need some time to get focused and spend some time reading the Bible. Thank you.
Wow—I might DO THIS this year! Our favorite radio station talks aboutthis every day during the 90 days, with daily encouragemnet if you’re behind, even!…..and I’ve been wanting to for a long time.
Thank you sooooooooooooooooo MUCH for this encouragement—and all the wonderful r-e-a-s-o-n-s!!!
Not sure if my other comment was received or not….but I just wrote how I love your blog…will add it to my favourites and be sure to return to read some more of your posts!
I believe motherhood and housewife to be callings to be cherished! Mother to 4, and now Nana to 4, I would not have changed being a stay at home Mom for the world!
About the Bible Reading Challenge…I think it is a great idea….I regret how I always make time to read the daily newspaper, but do not spend as much time in The Word as I should.
The things of time and sense so easily crowd out Bible Reading and Meditation.
Keep up the good posts! And a Blessed Christmas to You!
I read about this challenge last year. In our faith we only use the king James Version which can be a bit intense. So I dertermined to do it in one year. On December 9 I completed it on exactly the 11 month mark. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it! Thanks for the encouragment!
I’ve been struggling to read the entire bible for a while. My husband is able to sit and just read read read. I tend to find myself side tracked by the dishes, laundry, etc. I am going to join in on this challenge and commit myself to finish it (at the worse possible time, tax season which is my busiest). Like a previous commenter it is going to be intense for I because I will be reading KJV because of our faith but God will guide me and I know this is the time he wants me to get this done!! Good luck to everyone!!
Well I am taking on the challenge and I am also going to try and blog some of my thoughts as I go through it.
This is a great idea. I’m definitely taking the challenge. I stumbled upon your post while using a little blogging tool called Zemanta to write my own post about reading through the Bible. If you’re not familiar with Zemanta it’s a free blogging tool which offers suggestions for articles related to your post which you can then link to, as well as photos you can add to your post. It’s a great too. Hey, I found this site/article because of it right?
Anyway, I’m starting a new blog on 1/3/11 called Skeptical Noise. It’s for folks who are skeptical of Christianity and for Christ followers who perhaps don’t know much about the Bible for whatever reason. I also have another blog which is relaunching on the same day. It’s more personal.
Here’s some links if you’re interested:
http://skepticalnoise.blogspot.com
http://asylummessages.blogspot.com