An important resolution you won’t regret

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Have you ever made a resolution to do something, then after a while you gave up on it? Or maybe you didn’t even started… We’ve all been there.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto/PavlenkoMaksim

One of the most common resolutions among Christians is to read the entire Bible through. Not all people I know were able to finish it.

Years ago, when I (truly) got converted, I decided to read the entire Bible. I figured that if I say that I believe the Bible is the one and only true revelation of God, His Word, and my reference for living my life, I should know what it says, right?

So I decided to use my commute time to do it. I bought a small print Bible and off I went to read it. About one year later, I finished.

What I remember most about that first full reading was finding details that I didn’t remember having heard about before. It was a wonderful journey of discovery for me.

Although it was such an amazing experience, I didn’t repeat it for many years. During this period I only read full books or pieces out of sequence, studying a theme or a specific book.

Then, a while ago, I purchased the Chronological Bible in Portuguese, and I started reading it. I am about to finish it (I’ve just started Revelation), and I learned so much more!

The chronological sequence gave me a new perspective on my reading. It is such a valuable experience to read all the prophet’s books inserted into Kings and Chronicles. Or David’s Psalms spread through I and II Samuel (you know what was happening in his life when he wrote each Psalm). Or read the epistles inserted into Acts. You get such a better view of all events that happened in parallel but are registered across different books.

As soon as I finish it, I intend to start a full reading of the English NIV translation. That will be my first full reading in a non-Portuguese translation (Portuguese is my native language).

If you’ve never had the opportunity to read the entire Bible through, I urge you to do it.

The online Bible YouVersion.com provides several reading plans.

You don’t need to open your web browser to read the Bible and follow those reading plans: you can install their app in your smartphone and use it offline (or online, depending on the translation you choose).

What I like most about YouVersion is that you can easily switch between different translations. And you can also add bookmarks and notes and it syncs to your account, so you will see them in any device or browser that you log in to.

And what’s even better, everything is free of charge.

The most important decision that you can ever make is to give your life to Jesus and accept Him as your Savior. The second most important is to get to know Him and have a relationship with Him. And reading the Bible is absolutely necessary to accomplish this.

I know it is a huge book, I know, but with the help of a reading plan you can do it.

Make that resolution now. Set a time to do your daily reading, choose a reading plan that you find interesting, if possible find a reading partner (someone you can discuss the topics you read, and you can encourage each other), and go ahead.

This is a resolution you won’t regret.

Questions:

Have you read the entire Bible through? What did you remember from that experience?

If you haven’t, are you willing to try? Do you think that the web site reading plans might help you?

If you tried but did not finish, what were your difficulties?

This post is part of the “One Word at a Time Blog Carnival” hosted by Peter Pollock. Check out his blog for links to other posts that were written based on the word “resolution”.

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