I experienced something humbling and extraordinary on December 31st.

I finished reading through the entire Bible in a year (I chose to go through The Bible Recap http://www.thebiblerecap.com/).

And I cried. 

Yes, I had tears in my eyes as I read the last two verses of the last book. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:20-21). I was moved to tears by the words and the depth of gratitude I have for God’s Word. 

I started seriously reading the Bible when I was a 19-year-old college student, and my mom bought me my first Study Bible. It didn’t take long for me to develop a deep love for God’s Word. I can remember how the words of Psalm 119:103 suddenly became truth to me, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” The more I read, the more I wanted to consume. But as much as I love God’s Word and am in it daily, I have never read through the entire Bible. 

Until now.

I was always somewhat skeptical about reading the bible in a year and actually gaining a better understanding of it. I had some pretty strong thoughts that God had to humble! I believed that the way I read and studied the bible was the best and that reading it in a year would mean rushing through it without taking the time to deeply explore it, as well as the temptation to make Bible reading become more of a duty than a delight.

For years I have chosen a book of the Bible, swapping back and forth between Old Testament and New Testament with a Psalm or a Proverb thrown in, taking each book verse by verse and doing a “deep dive” study. Studying God’s Word this way generally takes me several months to get through one book at a time as I do an investigative word-by-word examination of the text. 

Studying God’s Word this way has given me a greater understanding of what each verse says, who wrote it, who the original audience was, what it meant to the culture at the time it was written, and what it means to us today. It’s provided me with a rich yet easy-to-follow practice of observation, interpretation, and application. But I always believed that if I were to just read the bible from front to back in chronological or sequential order in a year, I would lose the depth of insight I gain when I do a slow and steady digging into the Word. 

However, I was wrong. I found such great value and understanding as I read the entire Bible. Here are five lessons I learned by reading through the Bible chronologically in 2022:

1. God has had a plan from the beginning:

From Genesis to Revelation, I was able to see the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption for all people, everywhere,  and throughout every generation. Ephesians 1:4 says that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” For all of eternity, beginning in Genesis 1, God has had a plan of redemption, leading us from sin and death to eternal life. His plan is not arbitrary or frivolous but a well-intentioned, well-constructed plan that includes our salvation, personal transformation, and His plan for a confident relationship with Him. Reading certain narratives or biblical principles in scripture verses gives us a small understanding, but reading the entire scope of the Bible fills in a lot of gaps in the narrative of God’s plan for all of mankind. 

2. The number one goal of reading the Bible is to discover the character of God: I used to believe that the primary intent of reading the Bible was to figure out my place and purpose in the world around me. While it is true that the Bible does help us to glean a better understanding of what God wants of us and for us, the Bible is not a self-help book. The Bible is His book, and He wants us to see Him through the pages – His character and nature, His glory and goodness, His plans and purposes. Getting to know God is our number one goal in reading through the Bible, not gaining a better understanding of ourselves. Each book, chapter, verse, and word of it leads us to a more intimate view of Who God is. And that changes everything. God’s character is revealed to us from Genesis to Revelation. If we can see the truth of His character, the Holy Spirit gives us a better ability to trust and a greater willingness to follow Him in obedience. When we know the heart and character of God, we have a deeper understanding of His love for us, and we can trust Him with our own hearts. Romans 15:4 tells us the purpose of Scripture: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”  

3. We can see God’s salvation story woven throughout the Old and the New Testaments: It’s easy to see and understand the story of salvation by grace through Jesus throughout the entire New Testament, specifically in the four gospel stories. But reading through the Bible as a whole, I was incredibly blessed and amazed at how God’s plan of salvation is woven throughout the Bible! “Salvation” in and of itself implies the act of “rescue,” and there is an overarching theme of God rescuing His people and keeping His promises. There are many instances where we see our need for a Savior throughout the pages of the Old Testament, “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them, How then can we live? Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from you evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” God’s rescue story didn’t begin at the birth of Christ; it started way back in Genesis 1 when God created the heavens and the earth and then created our family line. God is in the business of redemption, and reading the complete text of His Word shows us that.

4. Perspective is important, and context matters: The Bible is easily taken out of context when we only read certain verses without seeing how those verses fit into the entire narrative. We glean even more information as we connect those verses to God’s entire Word. Reading through the Bible chronologically allows us to see how every part of it connects to another. Instead of hlimited by only focusing on one book, chapter, or verse, our view is made panoramic, and we can see a greater perspective and put what we’re reading into the proper context. Reading the whole scope of God’s Word is so wise because it leaves less room for errors! Missing essential pieces of information and misunderstanding the context of what we’re reading are how we become easily misled about God’s truth and allow false doctrine to lead us astray. God’s Spirit gives us a greater understanding of His spiritual truths when we are consistently in His Word. “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13). When we have a proper biblical perspective and context of His Word, He reveals His truths to us. 

5. Reading through the Bible strengthened my faith and increased my hope: There were days when keeping up with my daily Bible reading felt more like something to mark off my to-do list. It had the potential to feel like it was more of a legalistic practice that put me on God’s “good girl list.” I’ve been walking this journey of faith for long enough to know that this isn’t truth; God doesn’t keep a heavenly score of who’s reading their Bible every day and who isn’t. He is, however, concerned about our hearts, and ultimately keeping up with my commitment to read God’s Word – even on days I didn’t feel like it – meant that I had instilled a daily habit in my life where the day didn’t feel complete if I hadn’t read that day’s chapters. Through my daily reading habit, God encouraged, blessed, convicted, sustained, and gave me wisdom. Some days those benefits came from places in the Bible I’d never read or had just skimmed over in the past. I found myself often saying, “Wow! I never read that before!” Reading every word in the Bible this year allowed me to experience the truth of 1 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 

God doesn’t keep a heavenly score of who’s reading their Bible every day and who isn’t. He is, however, concerned about our hearts, and ultimately keeping up with my commitment to read God’s Word – even on days I didn’t feel like it – meant that I had instilled a daily habit in my life where the day didn’t feel complete if I hadn’t read that day’s chapters.

So which style of reading through the bible is the most beneficial? Both! I’ve also heard a lot about bible mapping and may try that this year with my verse-by-verse reading. Inductive study is another great tool to use. My friend, Mariel, has a beautiful method she came up with when her boys were young called the T.E.N.D. method, where you take one verse at a time and slowly plant that verse in your mind and your heart. There are so many different bible reading plans out there, both for reading through it chronologically and sequentially or a wide variety of other plans that can be found with a quick google search or in the back of a study Bible. One method isn’t necessarily better than another; the most important key is to just read your Bible! You can pick a reading plan that suits your personality and schedule and start from there. 

I genuinely love digging into God’s Word a verse at a time, and I will now pick that back up during my Quiet Time for 2023. The slow and steady verse-by-verse reading and studying gives me an in-depth look at each verse. Still, it doesn’t provide an overarching view of God’s entire story. Reading through the Bible chronologically helped me back up a little and see the bigger picture of God’s actions from Genesis to Revelation and everywhere in between. Starting at the beginning and reading to the end of the story God has given us creates a foundation critical to our faith and relationship with God. Experiencing the unfolding of God’s plan has helped me gain a better understanding of Who He is and His plan for all of mankind, and it has blessed me in incredible ways.

I would love to hear from you! Share with me how you read the Bible in 2022 or how you are planning to be in God’s Word in 2023. I believe that the most vital thing we can do as Followers of Jesus is to just begin somewhere and be consistent about reading the Bible!