Scott's Thoughts

The whole Bible in one year

One of the great privileges of being a pastor is the opportunity to spend extended time each week in the study of Scripture. It is also a responsibility; after all, preachers are supposed to know their Bibles! Having grown up not reading the Bible, I feel a need to play "catch-up" in learning the Word of God. For that reason, for the last few years, I've committed myself to reading through the entire Bible in the calendar year.

I say this not to heap praise on myself, or to suggest I've become an expert in Scripture (in the course of my ministry, I am often made painfully aware of my lack of expertise), but to encourage you to do the same. Reading through the Bible, I mean ALL the Bible - even the geneaologies and law codes - is a daunting task that takes more than a little perseverance. But, God will bless you if you do it.

I thought I'd list seven lessons I've learned from reading the whole Bible in a year. Here they are:

1. There are more sinners than saints in the Bible.

Adam and Eve were sinners. The patriarchs were sinners. The judges were sinners. The kings of Israel were sinners. The disciples were sinners. Evidently, God wants to impress upon us something about his grace, not man's goodness!

2. God is concerned about life here on earth.

Are Christians "so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good"? Not if they read their Bibles. The Lord cares about how we treat others, our relationships, our attitude and care for the weak and outcast, our stewardship of the created things he puts under our care, just to mention a few things in this regard. God didn't save us by taking us out of the world, but he saved us by coming into our world.

3. God deals with both individuals and groups of people.

Individualistic approaches to faith (ala Billy Graham and American evangelicalism), and conceptions of salvation focused exclusively on God's people as a body (ala N.T. Wright), both appear un-balanced in light of the Scripture's equal concern for the person and the church. The Bible speaks to both "me", and "we".

4. God's time is not our time.

Thousands of years passed from God's first promise of a Savior (Genesis 3:15) to the coming of Christ. The writings of the Bible itself span centuries. God works on his timetable, not ours! Patience breeds trust and fosters hope.

5. God is sovereign.

Even where the text doesn't mention God (e.g., the book of Esther), he is there causing all things to fall out exactly according to his eternal plan (Ephesians 1:11). Wow!

6. The Bible is full of hope.

Despite the sometimes dark and disturbing depictions of the corruption of humanity, and the sin even of God's people, there is throughout the Scripture a note of hope and expectation. God is good, and he will fulfill his promises!

7. The Bible is about Jesus.

This is not always obvious from certain OT passages. Sometimes it's hard to see how Christ is there. But, Jesus himself said the Scripture was about him (Luke 24:44). When you read through the Bible keeping this verse in mind, he does begin to emerge from the shadows, so to speak. And that's what Bible reading is all about - growing in the knowledge of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1).