The Amazing Road Trip Through the Word 

Back in the year 2019 BC (before corona) I picked up a Bible reading guide. My goal was to read through it in a year.  It was set up with daily scriptures from both the Old and New testaments, and it allowed me to check off little boxes for each one completed.  While the idea of reading the whole Bible was dauting, and I’d never done it before, I figured age 70 was a good time to start, and the check-offs would visually show my progress. That appealed to me. That said, I put the guide aside, and almost forgot about it until January 2020 rolled around.  Maybe I was using it as a bookmark in my Jack Reacher novel, but whatever, I came across it.  The pandemic hadn’t struck yet, and the world seemed as normal as our world can seem, and having nothing better to do, I thought I’d start in. Knowing my track record, on keeping up with projects, I doubted my own commitment on January 1^st.  I’m not telling you this to get pats on the back, but feel free if you want to, but to let you know how astonishing a journey this was to be for me.  At the get go I was more into checking off boxes than absorbing the words. But that changed as each day I actually began looking forward to picking up where I left off.  Genesis came to life for me, from Creation through the Passover, the stories and characters took on flesh, and called me back for more.  Okay, maybe not Leviticus with all its laws and animal sacrifice, or Numbers that abounded with strange names, but God always showed me something to dig into. I’m happy to report to you that I finished right on schedule, and have the little checked-off guide as my witness.  I took the year 2021 off, and felt something was missing, I found it hard to pick up the Bible and just read. Oh, I’d read devotions and such, and while they were beneficial, I began to long for the habit of meeting with God.  The Bible is after all his love letter to us, and even though it can be tough to comprehend at times, it encouraged me and strengthened my walk with him.  I picked up a new check-off guide last fall, and have started the journey again.  What a joy it was to meet up with my old pals the Patriarchs, the Apostles and to discover new characters, that in my haste to box-check, I skimmed over.  Now I keep a journal by my side, and jot down names, phrases and anything that I want to learn more about.  It’s been years since I’ve written, but I want to share with you some of my new friends, and the lessons I’m learning.  I encourage you to latch on to a Bible-reading guide, or I can get one for you, you will be amazed at the difference it will make in your life.  “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.” Psalm 12:6  Enjoy the amazing road ahead!!