The Bible in 90 Days

On March 31st, I finished my goal of reading through the Bible in 90 days.  It was a lot of time and effort, but it was oh-so-powerful.

Reading through scripture at this pace allows you to see the bigger picture and the recurring themes.  If you spread reading the Word out over a year (or years!), the effect of repeated commands, similar stories, and familiar warnings is lost.  You are not able to see all the connections and coherence that flow from a steady reading.  Obviously, you lack the depth of Scripture study when you read this fast, but the amazing summaries that flow from this pace are enlightening and absorbing.

My favorite part of this experience (other than my kids excitement over it) was seeing a few themes emerge and the overarching Word of the Lord cone to light.  If I had to summarize the entire Bible, I know now that Jesus had it right all along (as if it were ever in doubt).  Read this familiar passage from Matthew 22 (emphasis mine):

 ³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

 ³⁵One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,

 ³⁶"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

 ³⁷And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'

 ³⁸"This is the great and foremost commandment.

 ³⁹"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'

 ⁴⁰"On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

The entire word of God can be summed up in those two commands.  Over and over again during my time in the Word, these two commands appeared.  He is what I read, fleshed out a little:

OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament is the story of the creation of Israel and God's leading them to understand that He alone is God and He alone is worthy of praise, honor, and adoration.

God continually calls His people to love and obey Him only.

Over an over again, the people ignore God's commands and warnings and forsake the blessings that would have followed.

God raises up all sorts of people to accomplish His will. He raises up the underdog and tramps down on the self-righteous.  

God often asks His people to do crazy things that neither they not their family or friends understand. The requirement is not to understand, but to obey and to trust the wisdom of God.  Think of the amazing things that would not have happened if people didn't obey (Noah's Ark, the battle of Jericho, Gideon's army...the list goes on.)  Just think what might have been if Adam and Eve had been wise enough to obey.

God allows wicked people to prosper at times so that His eternal will can be carried out.  Just because someone is being blessed with earthly good DOES NOT mean that they have God's favor (or that someone who is destitute is lacking God's favor). God raised up and "blessed" many, many wicked people to carry out his eternal purposes.  As the saying goes, "Earth is their heaven and eternity will be their hell."

God DEMANDS..expects, commands, exhorts, pleads, insists, requires...that we care for the the poor, the widows, and the orphans.  This is NOT optional.  Over and over and over again in the OT God commands that His people care for the poor and practice justice.  And over and over and over again God condemns and punishes people for not doing this.

God says that religion that is practiced out of obligation, habit, or cultural/familial expectation is abhorrent to Him. If these things do not flow out of a heart that truly loves Him and is committed to obedience (which includes caring for the poor!), it detests Him.  In Isaiah 1, for example, He says that He HATES the peoples' religious ceremonies and obligatory sacrifices. He says he will hide His face from them and close His ears to their prayers.  And then the only thing he advises them to do (inferring that this is the religion He finds beautiful) is this:

"Learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow."

Isaiah 1: 17

Oh the implications for the modern day church!

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus and apostles continue proclaiming God's command to care for the poor and needy and oppressed. The second greatest command is to "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus answers the questions, "Who is my neighbor?"  It is not just the person next door or down the street. It is even the despised person from another culture. It is the person that you think someone else should help.  It is anyone other than yourself.

The NT talks a lot about believing in Jesus for salvation. And it also explains very clearly and emphatically that a genuine belief will manifest itself in good works.  And we're not just talking about going to church and avoiding bad language and reading Bible stories to our kids. Belief that leads to salvation is characterized by loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and souls (and therefore striving with everything in us to obey all of his commands) and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are NOT to store up treasures here on earth.  The earth is NOT our home and our time, energy, and resources are not to be spent on things that will not last.  Our selfish and materialistic lifestyles are not smiled upon by God.

A lifestyle of true discipleship will be characterized by struggles, persecutions, and pain.  This does not mean that we can never enjoy earthly blessings (after all, every good and perfect gift is from above), but it does mean that these are to be held onto very lightly and used for the purpose of loving and helping others. 

____

It was a powerful 90 days.  I can't wait to do it again.   And incidentally, the books that impacted me the most in this reading:

Deuteronomy, Proverbs, Isaiah, 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, James, and Revelation.

Comments

[Ashley]

That's awesome Janet! I started the challenge but had a real struggle with the end of Exodus into Leviticus and Numbers so I decided to go to the New Testament and read through that first. A bit backwards but I think it was really what I needed and I have learned so much so far and been very impacted by the gospels and the time of Jesus ministry here on Earth. I have gained a greater understanding of what salvation looks like and my life has been changed in ways I hadn't expected! Thanks for the recommendation to take the challenge. Even though I haven't followed it to the letter, I have definitely been challenged by it in ways that I think God needed and wanted me to be.