Bible Completion: Why I Did It, How I Did It, and What I Learned
I read the whole bible!
Wow, I can’t believe I can actually say that.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram for the past year, you’ve probably seen me document my 4 chapters a day via my ig stories. Well, I’ve 4 chaptered a day my way to reading the whole bible, which was my goal. Since documenting, sharing tips, and motivating other women to do their due diligence to read; I’ve received loads of questions on: how I do it, how to stay disciplined, how I take notes, etc.
So, here I’ll be sharing my experience over the past year of reading the bible and also sharing tips.
““Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.””
Why Did You Do It?
Something needed to change.
At my church, we have a saying called S.P.A. It stands for: Study, Pray, and Apply. I’ve heard it time and time again not realizing I never really gave it a chance to sink in (or let the butter melt over the biscuit, lol iykyk). You know how people go to the Spa to retreat or to refresh? Well, the application of this saying is the Spa in a spiritual sense. And knowing what we know, you literally need to do this every day to maintain spiritual growth.
Going to congregate on the sabbath, watching classes, helping where needed in church… all of that and it just felt like something was missing. I had no spiritual routine, was slacking on prayers, barely reading my bible, and some days it’d go left untouched. There was a void.
I finally had enough and just did what I knew I needed to do.
It started off small,
I would read chapters in the New Testament (since they were shorter), literally from my phone while nursing my youngest. I read it with the audio bible to help those random/distracting thoughts you may get while reading. Eventually, I developed a solid morning routine which included a blocked out time for studying. Which would include me praying, drinking water, making my coffee, and headed to my desk with my study material. This is when I REALLY started looking forward to my morning study times. Especially when I ended up reading something so relevant to my life, it was like: ooooo! Dopamine hit, haha.
How Did You Do It?
Wife and Mom of 2 little ones, that’s a job in itself right?
These two things, alone, definitely keep me busy but I had to be real with myself. Am I really maximizing my time? Are there idle things taking up space in my mornings and nights? Is it beneficial to my endurance in this walk? These are questions you can ask yourself as well.
Here are my main tips if you are struggling with reading your bible daily:
Do it in the morning: look, if you’re already slothful with reading and you push it off until the evening.. you’re playing yourself. If night reading honestly works for you, then more power to you! I’m just particularly talking to my sleepy head sisters.
Make it a vibe: Light a candle, turn on lofi or jazz (something instrumental, no lyrics - to limit distractions), make your favorite morning drink (coffee, tea, smoothie, etc) and get into it! Make it pretty, you know how us girlies are, we’re very visual so having a space that you enjoy reading at makes a difference.
Read with audio bible: If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get distracted while reading. Listening to the audio Bible while reading definitely helps with consecration. This a big key to getting my 4 chapters done.
Make it your non-negotiable: This has to be on your list of, “if nothing else gets done this has to”. Because the truth is, there’s no excuse. Accept that every study session will look different, this means even on your busiest days.. there’s still no excuse. The kids woke up early than expected? Listen to your chapters during their breakfast. Running behind on chores? Put the audio bible on in the background. Your commute to work takes up most of your morning? Again, play the audio bible. Something is better than nothing. If you want this to be apart of your daily routine, you will find a way. Also, consider that most 4 chapters take less than 30 mins. So even if you aren’t a fan of listening to your chapters on busy days, you can still aim to squeeze it in (especially if you find yourself mindlessly scrolling on social media or watching full seasons of shows, trust me.. you got time).
What did you learn?
I’m going to quickly number off some things I’ve learned over the last year, I feel like most are self-explanatory so here we go:
Reading the bible everyday has improved my mental health
Including the bible in my morning routine gives me more structure to my day
Learning more about Christ has made me less reactive (The Gospels is some of fav history)
Reading the whole bible doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes; you are bound to make mistakes because that’s life. You keep reading, keep learning, and keep applying; Proverbs 24:16 “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
Reading the whole bible doesn’t mean you won’t have trials, but you will be more prepared and motivated to get through them; Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
in conclusion
I’m looking forward to completing the bible, again within the next year. Because I get to learn more and grow more. That’s the goal, every year. To become better.
I also am looking forward to reading again because the bible is my reminder to keep going. Never give up, never give in. Reading about all of the different trials our fore parents went through and what was waiting for them at the end, wow. Some stories make me teary eyed, because life is hard. But reading about how they endured hard things, messed up, got back up, got talked about, etc. These are the words I keep in my heart, in hopes to endure until the end.
All of these stories and instructions were not recorded for no reason, please take advantage of the wisdom on your nightstand.
I hope this has helped you if you’re struggling to open your bible.
Peace.
Study Links
My Bible Tabs (Sturdy/Long Lasting/Doesn’t Tear Pages): Amazon.com : DiverseBee Laminated Bible Tabs (Large Print, Easy to Read), Bible Journaling Supplies, Bible Book Tabs, Christian Gift, 66 Bible Tabs Old and New Testament, Includes 11 Blank Tabs - Cappuccino Theme : Office Products
My Highlighters: Mini Highlighters - Multicolor, 10 Pack - Yoobi™ : Target
My Study Books: