A very long time ago I read the bible but I was young and it didn't really mean that much to me. Then I sat through years of liturgical readings and probably reheard massive chunks of it. In fact, to this day I'm surprised at the verses I know by heart from hearing them each Sunday in church. But years went by when I didn't attend church, and frankly thought it was all about equal to mythology anyway.
Then, in adulthood I made a decision to follow Christ's example and accept him as my Lord and Savior. Okay, that's christianeze for I decided that he would be in charge of my decisions and my example for how to live and I believed that he did indeed serve as a replacement for me in the punishment for my sins.
Naturally, I decided that it was now time for a very thorough reading of the Bible, the book that contains the information about Christ's life and teachings as well as God's words that have been written down for all of us by the men He chose to write them. I read it several different ways. Through intensive bible studies with others that took months to get through a book or two, reading it on my own and now I listen to someone else read it.
I listen almost daily to http://www.dailyaudio.com/. I've written about dailyaudiobible.com and I highly recommend it. January 1st Brian will start reading from the beginning once again and it's a good time to start. You can get there by clicking on the red button on the right hand side of my blog. No matter what any time is a good time to jump in and start listening. It will be a worthwhile experience regardless.
Rose Publishing offers many study aids for the Bible and Biblical History. If you sign up for their newsletter you will receive links to free downloads frequently. Right now they are offering a free Bible in One Year reading plan. You can get it on their website here.
Another opportunity I recently ran across is The Bible in 90 Days. You can read about it at The Happy Housewife blog. It only requires an hour a day for 90 days. I think if you want to just read the whole of scripture this would be a good way to do it, but I really think and the Bible directs us, that reading scripture daily is a worthwhile goal. I know that for me my whole day is set in better perspective when I do.
So my New Year's wish for you would be that you would give it a try. You may find the answers you have been looking for through the experience.
Posts
