Ten years of truth



Of all the unlikely things to remember, I’m sure I can recall exactly where I was when it dawned on me that I needed to start reading the Bible. Really reading it, that is, as a part of my life more pronounced than the last resort. I was sitting in bed near the beginning of a year, feeling rubbish for several reasons. In that moment, I was convicted that one of my fundamental problems was the lack of God’s truth in me and that action was required to change this. On December 31st I finished the whole thing, my life having been altered, accelerated even, over the course of the year.

I’ve just realised with a shock that this happened a decade ago. Regular Bible reading has been an essential part of me for ten years. What is less surprising, given that fact, is how much God has done in me and even through me over that time. All of life has been illuminated. I have known God’s company. Truth and love reside in me in unprecedented ways, treasures to savour and share.

Being a Christian and not reading the Bible is like being hungry and not eating a feast put before you, like feeling lonely and not calling a friend. Like anything that really matters, it involves effort; like anything that’s really important there are questions and frustrations along the way, but it can change you for good like nothing else in the world.

Maybe 2012 is the year that you take hold of this great gift, the best news.

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A paper copy of the Bible is available for just £1.99, many others are also available. BibleGateway and YouVersion have plenty of resources to help you get started and keeping going, most importantly free online access to the text. I use a reading plan by Robert Murray M’Cheyne, going at half speed, which means two chapters a day – easier to digest and to catch up when I've missed a day. A printable version of that is available, and you can follow it with comments by D.A. Carson.