In 2018, I knew I needed to slow down. I knew I needed to savor the life we had built, the family we were given, but I didn’t know exactly how to do that. While I was raised Catholic, then Lutheran, then reaffirmed my faith by being baptized Christian as an adult in my mid-twenties, I’d never been successful reading the Bible regularly. It was old, it was hard to understand, I didn’t know where to start, and I gave up before I ever really got started. But this year I set it as a goal for myself, to become more knowledgeable of the Bible and be more active in my faith.
In January, my husband told me that he felt it was time to switch churches. This was a few short months after I committed to helping lead the Mom’s group at the church we had attended together for the past 10 years. Supporting moms, especially working moms, is something I thought I was called to do, so the timing of this move was a tough one for me to understand. But following my husband’s desire to find a new church was something I supported 100%. Finding a place we could all be excited about attending was a huge deal for me.
Going to a new church, and seeing the whole family engaged was the spark I needed to chase after this goal of mine. But here’s what I knew …
Ways I tried to read the Bible in the past that didn’t work for me:
Just open the Bible to a random page and read it. {have you ever heard this - God will speak to you on any random page you open. The lack of context and closing my eyes while pointing to a verse just didn’t seem to be the right answer!}
Go through a Bible in a Year with assigned reading each day. {that was so much reading each day, and for someone new in the Bible, it was too much, it was overwhelming}
Reading devotionals with a verse each day {I enjoyed the devotional, the author’s interpretation, or their story, but never actually opened my Bible in the process}
So, early in the year, a neighbor of ours posted a daily devotional he was reading, and I ordered it. It had a devotion for the day, a scripture around that day, but then it also had another set of verses listed at the bottom for additional reading. This helped me walk through the explanation of the initial verses by someone that spoke my language, and helped me understand how it applied to my life. But I also recognize the need to read the Bible directly, and not just read the commentary of another person (interpreted through their perspective, their lens, not to mention humans are flawed and imperfect). So, it also filled that spot for me with the additional reading it recommended for that day. It was usually a handful of verses that I could easily get through, rather than a lengthy read. And by opening a physical, hard copy Bible (rather than one on my phone), I could easily read the verses around it to get more perspective, or could look up other verses on that topic in the index. There were also times a nearby heading jumped out to me and I’d read that section as well. Either way, it gave me a direct place and number of verses to read, but also got me used to opening up my Bible.
Three months after I started that, we were given a challenge at church. For the month of June, we were to read the 4 chapters of Philippians each week. That meant opening our Bible at least 4 times a week, reading just 1 short chapter each day. And each day, picking and highlighting one verse that stood out to us, that really spoke to us. The next week, we’d start again with the first chapter of Philippians. And again, we’d highlight the verse that spoke to us. It was interesting to see how each week a completely different verse stood out to me. A testament to the fact that the Bible is the living word. It speaks to what we need to hear at the time we need to hear it.
We also joined a small group at our church for the first time, and found ourselves in a community of people, some more mature in their faith walks than us. During this time, a couple of resources and tips were shared with me by an amazing woman who I am now lucky enough to call a friend. She suggested anytime you choose a verse for that day’s reading, you look at the other translations of that verse. If you Google the verse (i.e. Philippians 2:13, one of the first options typically to come up is a link to BibleGateway.com) Once you’re in BibleGateway.com you can choose another translation to read, or my favorite, is towards the bottom and has a link to see that verse in all English translations. Words have such power, and we all come with difference histories, different backgrounds, differences experiences, and some words speak more powerfully to us than others.
A couple months after our reading of Philippians, one of the ladies in our small group offered up the opportunity to do a virtual Bible read together. We’d read a chapter of the Bible each day, and post on our favorite verse, and what we took from it. We started with the book of Proverbs - 31 chapters for the 31 days in August. We posted this in the GroupMe app, which is like a private text group, but requires you to go into the app so your text messaging is not pinging you all day. This provided such great encouragement, accountability, and a place of community. When one of us opened up about something we wanted to work on, or something we struggled with, other women would jump in with words of understanding and support and encouragement. It was the most beautiful collection of women supporting each other I’ve ever seen. From there, we have made our way through the rest of the New Testament, continuing to lean on each other, and cheer each other on.
I’m looking forward to continuing to expand my knowledge of the Bible in 2019, and have put together a few tips that helped me get into the Bible regularly. I hope you take the nudge to get into the word more regularly this year, and if you want someone to read the Bible with, just DM or text me, and we’ll setup a new GroupMe group!
Tips I picked up in 2018 that helped me be more successful in getting into the Bible regularly:
If you start with a devotion, make sure it has reference to specific verses you have to open your Bible to read. {Getting into the word directly is so important}
Read a physical Bible, at least some of the time. {Your eyes have a chance to wonder, and you will end up seeing and reading additional things you needed to hear that day}
Start with Philippians if you need a place to start. For 4 weeks, open your Bible 4 days a week and read a chapter a day. Highlight one verse that spoke to you each time you do.
Look up alternative translations to get more of the intent and meaning from the verse {BibleGateway.com is a great one, and try the Message translation - it’s so different from the translation you’re probably reading}
Read an “easier” translation than King James. Try NIV or NCV {and Message as another source for your favorite, or most confusing, verse that day}
If you’re ready to read every day, try Proverbs over the course of a month {31 chapters in 31 days. And if you start on the 1st of the month, then you always know what chapter you’re on!}
Read together with other people, and make sure there are people in the group more knowledgeable in the Bible than you are that you can ask questions of. {I love the GroupMe app for this}
Pick a comfortable spot, and time of day that you can regularly devote to reading your Bible.
I hope some of the things that I learned during 2018, surrounded and encouraged by amazing, inspiring, Christian women, have the power to help you get into the word more regularly this year.
Good luck - and send me any of your favorite tips for being the word regularly!