I’m 47 years old and I have yet to read through the entire Bible. I profess to know God, love Him and follow Him yet I’ve always relied heavily on what I’ve learned from church, books, or pastors with their comedic wit to lure me to the foot of Christ. Thanks to Bj and his Bible journal invitation I have read more than I ever have in the past 2 years. I admit that it’s hard to read sometimes. It’s old and can be overwhelming. There are really boring parts with names I cannot begin to pronounce and I often find myself rereading portions because I fell asleep a few verses back. In this world of immediate gratification I have snatched up a psalm here and there or a familiar gospel to fulfill my daily reading while avoiding others. Those are the easy reads of the Bible. But if we take bits and pieces of the Bible we miss out on the real power and love of God and Jesus our Savior. It takes time, dedication, and desire to read the the Bible in its entirety, but I have noticed that when I take the time to read a little everyday (and not skip the hard parts) the time is sweet and rewarding. It really does come alive and it becomes a part of my daily thoughts. All the pieces start to fit together and they all point to Jesus.
I found a new appreciation for the book of Chronicles. It is a record of all the kings and whether or not they followed God and how that effected their lives and the people they lead. If you want to read of kings and kingdoms and gruesome wars this is it. My favorite king, of course, was David who followed God so imperfectly. He messed up so many times, but still came back to God. And God still used him in spite of his mistakes. In 1 Chronicles God gave instructions to David on how to build the temple. SPECIFIC instructions. Then God proceeded to tell David that his son Solomon would be the one to actually build the temple. I wonder if that was hard for David to give up some of that control. To pass on what God told him for the next generation to carry out. Maybe he had a moment of wondering if he had raised Solomon well enough to complete such an important task. As parents I think we can all relate to this. As kids we can relate as well. Carrying out a legacy of faith can be daunting and overwhelming – what if I screw up or fail? How will I move forward? Davids words to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:20 are words of wisdom and encouragement for the future.
1 Chronicles 28:20 “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you”.
We have much ahead of us as Christians in our world today. Don’t be discouraged by the size of the task…….God will be with us. We do not move through this world alone. Let’s continue to spur each other on in our faith and consistently spend time with our Almighty Father.
Happy New Year!!
Shelly