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Back in August, I posted about the Read the Bible in 90 Days challenge I was about to begin.
Wow. It was hard. It was so worth it, but it was HARD.
I am usually a pretty fast reader, but found that most days the reading took me an hour or more. That’s not a problem, but when I would get up at 6 to read and my kids would wake up at 6:15. . .it became a huge struggle to get all the reading in.
One thing I did to help me keep up was to listen to the Bible on mp3. It was nice to be able to sit down with my Bible and hear it be read at the same time. That really helped me to concentrate, especially on mornings when I was really drowsy. It was nice also to be able to listen while driving or washing dishes.
I finally finished a couple days before Christmas. If I counted right that’s 126 days; about two weeks longer than the goal. I thought it was closer to 90 than that but apparently not.
While I made it through the Bible faster than I ever have before, I didn’t make it in 90 days. I also used the mp3’s instead of reading at times.
My new goal is to try again. I would like to be able to do it in 90 days. I’d also like to be able to do it without listening to mp3 unless I’m reading at the same time.
It’s disappointing to admit I didn’t meet the 90 days. On the other hand, it was amazing to be so completely surrounded by the Bible during that time. It was so neat to see just how everything tied together so much. I’ve noticed references to the Old Testament in the New and vice versa, but going through the Bible in this amount of time seemed to make them more obvious.
One thing that was really neat was I finished up the week of Christmas. That last week I was reading in both Zechariah and Revelation. I never realized just how many references there were to the Messiah and His birth in the book of Zechariah alone. It was so amazing to read through it during the week we traditionally celebrate Jesus’ birth. And then to be reading about Heaven and the return of Christ at the same time. . . absolutely amazing.
So. I didn’t meet my goal. But I’m going to try again. Not sure exactly when, but I want to try again.
Melody, I wouldn’t count this as a failure in any sort of way! Like Susan said, you had a very high goal, and while you didn’t quite make it you did finish the Bible in a very short amount of time! I think that is awesome.
Susan, thank you.
Thanks for mentioning your plan – are you using the devotional you blogged about not that long ago? I told Stephen I’d like to get one of them, and then promptly forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder!
I’ve tried the 90 day plan before, but didn’t meet the goal. I think it took me about 5 months, rather than 3, but I read through the Bible faster than I ever had before. And like you, I saw so clearly how everything fit together between the testaments – it was great! I just wanted to encourage you not to be so hard on yourself for not making it in 90 days and for using the mp3. You read through much more quickly than usual, and even though you didn’t meet your (very high) goal, you still immersed yourself in God’s Word.
I’m not going to try this plan this year. I’m doing a one-year devotional with reading plan with the ladies in our church, so I’m sticking with the plan we have in motion.