At last, I can finally say I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover. I started a one-year reading plan in 2013 and actually finished it! And I bought a new one last Christmas, a little one that I can carry around with me wherever.
I’m going to read it again this year. And hopefully next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. The most important thing is that we understand and meditate and apply the Word of God. What things you gain by reading, you gain only when you understand.
When we reach the point of our lives where everything seems dark and dreary, we have two choices: flee from God, or draw closer to Him.
Those who choose the former usually reason out and think that if difficulty is what they get in exchange for all the good that they’ve done and all the things they’ve done for the God and the church, then why bother at all? Those who choose the latter know that since we are living in the world – which is in fact in a cursed state — then we cannot expect to be exempted from all the ugliness that is in it. And if we think for one minute that we can come to God with a bullet list of all the good we’ve done and redeem it as we would a gift certificate, then we ought to be ashamed of ourselves.
“All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. Because of our sins we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind.” – Isaiah 64:6
God is the one refuge we have in this life. If we let go when the waves get rough, then what else would we expect but more and more struggling?
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” – John 15:7