My Year of Reading the Bible

I have finally done it!  I made a New Year’s Resolution that I kept.  I committed to myself and God that I would read my Bible every single day this year.  Sure, there were some nights that it was hard to read.  That is the thing about committing to something, I have to stay committed.  I knew that if I skipped a day then it would be a lot easier the next day to skip again and again.  So I set my mind and heart to reading from a plan every day and have accomplished it.  This is what I have learned.

1. Commitment takes discipline.  It is far easier to talk about doing something than to actually do it.  It is easy to give it up when things are difficult, like a really long day that ended in a really late night, feeling really bad about something you have said or done.  Putting it off until the last minute is also a very simple thing to do and more than once I had to climb out of bed because I had nearly forgotten (sometimes on purpose).  However, if you remain committed to accomplish what you set out to do the rewards are well worth it.

2. Reading the Bible is like physical exercise, only better.  In his first letter to Timothy Paul says,  “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”  If you have exercised regularly you know how it feels when you miss a couple of weeks and then start again.  From my experience of reading the Bible it has become such a part of my daily routine that I think if I were to miss time I would feel it even worse than if I didn’t exercise (believe me, I can go for a while without working out).  The Bible came alive to me in so many ways this past year that I can’t even begin to describe how much I have changed and begun to see things differently.

3. The most important thing I learned in all of my reading was this: God loves us.  It is clear throughout the entire Bible that God loves us, He wants a relationship with us, and He doesn’t want us to keep it to ourselves.  So many stories, so much poetry, so many teaching letters were directed at getting us to see God’s love and make sure that others around us see it too.  Sure, there are things that are controversial, some huge issues to wrestle with and some difficult passages but the overwhelming idea in the story of the entire Bible is that God loves us passionately.

If you haven’t been captured by His love or if your heart right now is hard toward God I would encourage you to grab a Bible reading plan, make up your mind to follow it, and when it’s way past bed time refuse to turn the light off before you have had some time to hear from the One who created you.

Here are some resources to help you out if you choose to take up this goal:

http://www.youversion.com/about/reading-plans

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/

http://bible.logos.com/#ref=Ge%201&ver=ESV

Living with a Purpose

One of my early memories that has always stayed with me was watching the movie “Bridge over the River Kwai.”  I can’t say the last time I watched it but there are some scenes that will always remain in my memory.  A few years ago I watched a movie call “To End All Wars” which is based on the same account and is far more factual.  Recently I have been reading the first hand account of the POW camp written by Ernest Gordon.

He describes life in the POW camp.  Death was everywhere, the situation was hopeless, valiant men stole from one another and there was no honor or respect for the dead.  The captors cared so little for the health of their enemy that many starved to death.  Because of the conditions and the situation there was no hope, no purpose for life, and many simply gave up.

But then something powerful happened.  Stories began circulating about men who had lived selflessly for others.  Once, when a shovel was “missing” the Japanese were threatening to kill everyone who could have taken it and were about to carry out their threat when one man took the blame and was beaten to death in front of everyone.  Afterward it was discovered that the person in charge of tools had miscounted and that everything was there.  The story of his sacrifice was told throughout the camps and men began to regain their dignity.

Men began living with purpose and asking questions about life.  A Bible study began where no surface level answers were tolerated (they had no time) and men started to discover that the Jesus they thought they knew from their childhood was not the Jesus of the Bible.  The Jesus of the Bible was someone who they could identify with and who shared in their sufferings.  Even though they were still malnourished and conditions had not improved the men found a purpose for living.  As Ernest put it, “Aren’t there two kinds of food – one for the body and one for the soul? And of the two, surely the latter is the more satisfying.”

Reading this account and having some understand (although no experience) of what these men had to endure makes me wonder if people today are living with purpose?  Am I living for the purpose I was created for?  Am I doing the best I can with what I have been given?  Or, am I just getting along and thinking that if I only had that one thing (whatever it may be) I would be doing better?  Our conditions are completely reversed from what these men faced but I can’t help but think that they found something that many people are looking for.

bumpy ride?

It seems like it would be bumpy but from what I read they said it wasn’t a bumpy ride…

Keenens big owie

some people just go too far

I’ve run a lot in my life but some people just take things too far.   Apparently it’s not enough to simply run a marathon to those British types.  They have to dress up to do it. Click here for 50 more pictures of the craziness.

Almost may in Colorado

Bike ride today with the boys

First day of spring soccer

40 Days of Water Recap

I have just finished the 40 days of Water challenge.  It was a great experience and something that I will do again, although I had no idea just how hard it woul be.  I am always trying to learn from whatever I do and I can say I that definitely learned some things from this experience.

1. A lot of stimulation comes from what we drink.  I was surprised at how I would find myself noticing how often my mouth was devoid of flavor.  In the middle of things, studying, reading, driving, talking, listening, browsing, I would find my attention drawn to the fact that there was no flavor in my mouth.  It was a strange sensation and it helped to remind me of what other people in the world have to endure all the time.
2. Some things that I thought would be easier ended up being very difficult.  I found myself, literally, dreaming about drinking coffee.  Is that a sign of addiction?  I’m not sure but hot chocolate and coffee ended up in my dreams regularly.
3. People are supportive.  When I explained what I was doing people were genuinely interested and were encouraging in the endeavor.  I heard a ton of people say, “That’s great”.
4. People didn’t want to give anything up themselves.  This one is interesting because they may have felt like they were behind and wouldn’t be able to catch up.  They may have “missed the boat”.  However, I can’t remember a single person who said told me that they liked what I was doing so much that they would like to join me in it.  I did not specifically invite people because I was interested to see what they’re response would be.  The next time I do something like this I will have something with me that has information and invite people to join me.  I think once people hear what you are doing it helps to specifically invite them.  On the other hand, giving up coffee may be too much for most people.
5. Giving up something, anything, can go a long way to helping people.  I don’t give things up very well and doing this taught me a lot.  I am used to my conveniences and taking something that I am used to away made me think of others more.  I spent more time praying and thinking about others.

Even though I was having dreams about flavored drinks and I struggled some days to resist drinking soda or coffee I am glad that I did this all the way through.  I realized how much money I spend on something that seems so insignifcant and understood how other people in the world have to live a lot better.  It was a great experience that I plan on doing again in one form or another.  And finally, I gave $46 to B:W Mission because of this experience!

Getting started early