The Bible in a Year

First off, I would like to thank my dear friend Skye for my new blog design!  Didn't she do a great job???  It was a complete and total surprise to me, but I completely love it!  It's got the cool retro bowling alley look to it.  It's awesome!!!

Now for my title: The Bible in a Year.  My husband got this crazy idea a while ago from a fellow pastor friend: read the whole Bible in a year.  He asked me if I was interested in doing this with him- kind of an accountability partner thing.  I said, "Sure.  But do I have to read it from cover to cover?"  The answer: Yes.  As much as I have always wanted to read the whole Bible- really read it and know that I've read the whole thing, not just pretty sure that I did that in seminary- I have tried it and failed.  I usually stopped somewhere in Leviticus, which is truly thrilling stuff.

So, I reluctantly agreed.  Jared also told me that he was going to ask his colleagues who are going through the ordination process with him to join him in this effort.  That way, he would have double accountability- those he'll see a few times a year at various church related events, and the person he sees every night before bed and every morning when he wakes up.

And so we began on June 1st.  I will admit to you all that I haven't had the easiest time with this task.  You've read about my busy summer and you're familiar with my new commute; so finding the time to read 2-4 chapters of the Old Testament everyday has been pretty difficult.  As of this morning, I was more than 7 days behind.  I read a few chapters with my morning tea at home.  Then I read a few more here at the office.  I am caught up to today, but not through today. 

Every single day that I am at work/in the office first thing, I make time to read my chapters and I even journal-usually not about the readings, though.  But on weekends and/or my day off, it's incredibly difficult to 1) remember, 2) find time to read, and 3) actually sit down and do it.  This is how I get so far behind in just a couple of days.

We are currently in Judges.  I am supposed to read chapters 6 and 7 of Judges today.  I finished chapter 5 with very heavy eyelids and seriously contemplated a nap at 9:45am... I'm obviously struggling with reading the Bible in a year.

And I am not sure that this really is meant to be an easy task, no matter how much I want it to be.  It is very palatable- reading a few chapters a day for a year.  It almost sounds enticing, like an infomercial or something: "For just 20 minutes every day, you can improve your biblical knowledge and spiritual growth."  And I thought, "Well that's totally manageable!"  But the fine print says, "You may have to give up: extra snooze button touch, time with your spouse, your morning walk, getting to work on time, staying awake at your job, spending time with loved ones, etc."

God never promises that discipleship will be easy.  I know of no where in the Bible that it says, "Follow me, it will be the easiest thing you ever do!"  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship; if that doesn't make it clear I don't know what does!

And, yet, I am bothered by how much time and effort is required of me to complete this simple task-reading a few chapters a day.  It's not easy, but it is simple.  Study is one of the spiritual disciplines.  It's something that we are encouraged to do and do well.  We pray to "hear... read, mark, learn and inwardly digest" the Scriptures (Book of Common Prayer, 236).  I'm not even doing that; I am just reading.  I am not really studying what I am reading.

My hope in admitting this to you is that I will take this task more seriously.  Perhaps it will take a year or two of reading the Bible everyday to get to the point of inward digestion; perhaps it will take longer.  But I know that this is something I want to do and I hope to do everyday.