66 Books

One of the things I've become convicted of is that, at age 32 and a youth pastor of a church, I've yet to read the entire Bible cover to cover. I've certainly read large swaths of it, but past resolutions to read it entirely have gone unfulfilled.

Is August a bad time of the year to make a new resolution? Ah, well, why not?

I want to read through the entire Bible. Maybe in a year, maybe longer, but I'm going to start keeping track of which books I've finished, and try to knock them all out. No skimming, either; I want to really read and really absorb God's Word.

I was inspired by something I heard on the mission trip, where a girl said a dad in her church would buy a new Bible every time he and his wife had a kid. Then he would make a pact with himself to read that Bible cover to cover by the time that kid was 18, writing notes in the margins and underlining favorite verses. When the child came of age, his plan was to hand that Bible to him as a family heirloom, to read him or herself and continue writing in it and underlining great verses. I think that's a wonderful idea. The guy has four children, so he's got a steep task ahead of him, but how awesome would that be to receive that Bible from your dad the day you went off to college?

We'll see if I do that when I have kids, but I do need to read through the Bible on my own for my own spiritual nourishment and gratification (and God's glory).