It is Finished

And just like that…We are finished!
One of our 2021 New Year’s Resolutions, starting on January 1st of this year, was to read through the entire Bible in a year as a family. And as of today, we did it! Well, half of us did. 😉

Why am I posting about it? Not just for bragging rights, although we are certainly proud of our accomplishment. Most of all, I want to let you know that it is totally doable and hopefully inspire, encourage, and challenge you to do the same thing in 2022.

I posted in my stories the other day that we were in the home stretch, and since then, several of you have asked which plan we’ve used. Here it is:

THE BIBLE in a year
https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/1292

Here are our biggest takeaways from spending an entire year reading through God’s Word, cover to cover:

1. God is incredibly patient, kind, long suffering, and slow-to-anger. I have said in the past, as many of us have, that compared to Jesus in the New Testament, God seems to be so harsh and angry in the Old Testament. But after reading through the entire Bible, walking with each character and how messed up they all are, you begin to see how long suffering and slow to anger He truly is. What He puts up with when it comes to mankind is nothing short of a miracle. How many times we turn our backs on Him, repeatedly throughout history, and yet He is there with arms wide open ready to forgive us in spite of all that we have done. His grace is abundant. Seeing the overall arc and the story of His love for humanity and His plan of redemption through Jesus is incredible. We truly don’t deserve His grace. He is incredibly kind.
2. A year is just a numerical goal. There is no magic in reading the Bible in a year. In fact, my whole family started together but we haven’t all finished at the same time. If you have fallen behind, finish it in 15 months or 18 months or two years! The point is to be in the word every day, and to exchange your thoughts for the thoughts of God. His ways are better than our ways, and His thoughts are better than our thoughts. It is through the light of God’s word that we see this clearly, how jacked we are without Him. To train yourself to have the mind of Christ. To help us and equip us to better manage the thought onslaught and thought assault that we face on a daily basis. To be able to fight lies with truth, speak life, and be salt and light to this world. Reading God’s word is a non-negotiable and as Christ followers we must take this seriously. The goal of a year was a great discipline for me to be in God’s word every day. I fell behind a few times, but I made sure to catch up and break it up into smaller bites throughout the day. The point is to read it!
3. Or listen to it! Maybe you aren’t much of a reader – Abigail read most of it, but also found that an easy way for her to keep up was to have it read to her through her YouVersion App on her iPad while she folded laundry. 😆 Yes that option does exist! Also? My favorite quote from Abigail after it was all said and done and I was freaking out and congratulating her for finishing, she said, “I mean , if kids can read all the Harry Potter books, they can read the whole Bible.” Mic. Drop. 🎤😲
4. Invite a friend – we started together as a family, and it has been awesome to have the extra accountability and maybe friendly competition to spur us on. In this plan there is also a Talk It Over section where we could post highlights, ask questions, and discuss passages that inspired us or challenged us. Jo says this was her favorite part.
5. You are never too young or (too old) to start. I wish I had done this years ago but I am happy that I can say that I have done it at least once in my lifetime. Every believer should attempt it. I am super proud of my daughters for accomplishing this at such a young age. If my 13 year old and my 17 year old can do it, so can you!