Last year at this time I was getting ready to start a life changing project. My sister-in-law Amy, challenged me to read The Bible in 90 Days. For years Amy had talked about how The Bible in 90 Days had changed her life and recommended it to anyone and everyone who would listen. Last fall she approached me and asked what I thought about her taking this challenge to the internet. I told her I thought it was a good idea and would help her promote it. I promoted it for her, and in the end agreed to join the January 2010 group.
At first I thought it was going to be terribly difficult, reading the entire bible in 3 months? I didn’t know how I would make the time to invest 45 minutes to an hour a day reading the bible. But then I realized that I probably wasted that much time every day doing things that were much less important than reading the bible. Once I started reading I thought it would be a piece of cake. I’ve read Genesis more times that I can count and I flew through the pages of familiar stories. I kept going, ending up a few days ahead of the group. Then I reached Numbers. It was hard, I struggled to stay focused during my reading time… but I kept going. I ended up reading the entire bible in 87 days. I find it hard to put into words how much this project challenged me, stretched me, inspired me, and blessed me.
If you ever thought you might want to read the entire bible consider reading it in 90 days. There are so many reasons why I think you should do it, but here are some of the things that impacted me.
You Read Through the Entire Bible
I have always found it strange when I meet people who don’t believe in Jesus, but have never read the bible. I’m not saying that reading the bible makes you believe, but how do you know you don’t believe in something if you have no knowledge of it? Conversely, I am surprised to meet Christians who have never read the bible or even significant portions of it. (I’m not talking about new Christians). Why would you follow Jesus, if you don’t know what he stands for?
You Read Through the Bible Quickly
Many people would argue too quickly. I disagree. I have read through the Bible in a year, and I got an entirely new perspective reading it in 90 days. You are able to see the big picture so much better, and all those names in the genealogies finally seem familiar because you are never too far away from something that happened earlier in the bible.
It Creates Self Discipline
This is a side benefit of reading the Bible in 90 Days. You are committed to setting aside almost an hour a day to read scripture. When finished you have 90 days worth of a very good habit.
You Learn A Lot About Yourself
I learned that I have a hard time reading through Psalms, I love the Old Testament, and that I need to memorize more scripture. I also learned that I can be a morning person when I put my mind to it.
Those are just a few of the things I learned by reading the Bible in 90 Days. If you are interested in reading with a group, which I highly recommend, Amy has a new group starting January 3, 2011. You can find out more about the Bible in 90 Days on her website, Mom’s Toolbox.
