Yesterday, I posted about one aspect of my life-changing last week, my week-long fast. Fasting, however, wasn’t the only thing that brought me nearer to God in my attempt to discern His will and plan. In fact, another aspect went hand-in-hand with my fast – reading my Bible.
For the past several years, I’ve been very intent on reading at least a small portion of God’s Word every day. I’ve missed some, but again, I’ve tried to make that my intent. I have the Bible on several different mediums. I have my YouVersion app on my iPad, as well as my iPhone, and of course, I’ve got my trusty physical NIV Bible. Anywhere I am, I can always jet to a passage of scripture on a whim, which is a great thing and an incredible luxury.
This past week, I set a goal for myself to read a little more than usual. So on Sunday night (the same Sunday that I began my fast, 2/27) I sat down to read. I started reading from, well, the beginning. Genesis 1. I was captivated. When I stopped reading that night, I had read a bit more than usual. In fact, I had finished Genesis.
The next morning I came into the office and started reading again. I began my way through Exodus. Monday and Tuesday were especially tough for me hunger-wise, so whenever I felt hunger pains, I immediately went back to my Bible and read some more.
The more I read, the more I found specific biblical situations that spoke very closely to my own situation at the time. Everything seemed to speak to me. Scripture had come alive during those moments. By week’s end, and upon breaking my fast this past Sunday morning, I had read through the book of Habakkuk (which, you might know, is my favorite book in the Old Testament).
Ironically, that Sunday night we started my last series of youth talks, a reprise of a former series called “Q&A,” where students would text their questions to me and have them answered during our youth gathering. One of the questions asked was “How are you supposed to read the Bible every day when it’s so boring?” My response was this: If you consider it simply a reading assignment, it’s nearly impossible. But if you consider it an act of interacting with the God who inspired it, created you, and desires a one-on-one relationship with you, it’s easy.
To quote a friend of mine, “I don’t know about you, but this Book changed my life.” The messages in the Bible are amazing, profound, and life-changing. So make time to read His Word. If you make a daily habit of being immersed in scripture, I promise you’ll never be the same.
In part 3 (the finale, as it were), I’m going to talk about how God showed up in a big way, and the process of announcing my resignation.