Read the Bible the whole way through

The other night I was talking with a contact of mine on msn and he asked me: “do you read the bible, lauraly?”

Me: “yes”

him: “but i mean, have you read the whole thing?”

Me: “yes! Not cover to cover – I jumped around a lot – but I’ve read the entire Bible.”

What a thrill to get to say that!

Thank you to everybody for the cheers and for the nice comments as I worked towards completing this goal. Almost 2 years and almost 200 cheers later, I can say I have done this. I have read the entire Bible! The whole thing! All the way through!

Now I get to start over and read it all again. (:

Luke and John are finished! Half way through Acts! SO CLOSE!

Where are my cheers going? I noticed this months ago, that I’d have a certain number and when I’d come back, one or sometimes two, would be gone. I thought it was my imagination, but look at this! I had 183 earlier, but didn’t get to make the screen cap, but I DEFINITELY had 182 as of the other day. What’s going on???

I finished reading Mark, the shortest of the Gospels, and I am half way through Luke.

I laid in bed and read the last few chapters of Matthew. It was SO nice to get to do that! Since I’ve been off work, despite having that extra 8 hours, I find I have less time to read. Read anything for that matter, not just my Bible, though Gabriel does seem to concentrate his efforts on taking it out of my hands over any other book. He likes to flip through it.

Afterwards I realized how much I missed being able to read several chapters at once – I mean, I read wherever and whenever I can; the car, while waiting in line or waiting rooms, so on – but that is usually only a chapter or two at a time. I’m thinking up ways I can ramp up my reading for the month of May… which may or may not be easy with a new baby due soon!

I also got another Bible at Goodwill the other day. I’m going to need a special place to keep my collection soon! (My poor bookcase is STUFFED!)

I am done! I can hardly believe it! I’ve read THE WHOLE BIBLE!

I’m still reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts before this will be marked as completed, but I finished 1 and 2 Thessalonians mid-March.

Just about that time, my parents, Gabe and I went on a day-trip to a town about 2-3 hours away (one way). On the drive, my mom was talking to my dad about the scripture that says “Peace and security” and she asked me if I had my Bible on me so we could look it up to see precisely what it says.

Of course I do!, I told her as I carry it everywhere with me in my bag, and the coolest thing was I had literally read that very scripture the morning before, so I knew exactly where to find it. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

So, anyway… I HAVE read the Bible the whole way through. It took my just under 2 whole years. Not bad timing, considering I stuck to no real schedule as far as how much to read at a time, or how frequently I read!

Through January I read Genesis and through February I read Exodus. I rented five books at the library yesterday, three more than I intended to! so it looks like March’s reading will be crammed!

Genesis was wonderful for the refresher. I’d forgotten so much since I was 10 and I can appreciate and understand more now that I’m older. For a 10 year old, I think I still got a lot of out of it, though.

My favorite part of Genesis, one that gave me cold shivers, was when Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, and after he had been brought out of the prison and promoted to gather the grain for the 7 year famine… just how willing the people were to sell themselves as slaves just to stay alive a few more days. They were so hungry they were willing to do anything. I think it’s very important for our day, in a country where we are generally well fed, to keep that in mind. Anything can happen to us and we could be that desperate very easily.

But the “all things happen for a reason” aspect wasn’t lost on me, either. Joseph’s brothers betrayed him, but if they hadn’t… who knows what would have happened!

Exodus wasn’t quite as interesting, as a good portion towards the end was the designing and building of the tabernacle. I’m a kinesthetic learner, but failing that I have to at least see something. I’ve never been good at visualizing descriptions of something’s design, but that majesty of the tabernacle still wasn’t lost to me. I wish I could see it though!

The exodus out of Egypt however was interesting, and even more so how incredibly stubborn and stupid Pharaoh was to dismiss and then refuse to let the Israelites go. And then, for the Israelites to see ALL THOSE MIRACLES, one after the other after the other after the other, and STILL insist Aaron make them an idol to worship when Moses didn’t come off the mountain right away.

I read about 1100 pages of non-Bible reading through February, so at this point I think I will aim for only 1 and 2 Thessalonians through March… but we shall see. (:

...the only books I have left to read are 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Wow!

The last few books didn’t take long at all for me to fly through. The Thessalonians won’t take long either… except that because it has been twelve years since I read Genesis and Exodus I’m rereading those at the moment. From there I will probably also reread Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts as well. It’s been years, after all – 5 years since Matthew and Mark and 4 years since Luke, John and Acts. I’d like a bit of a refresher so that I feel more like I have been able to “Read the Bible the whole way through”... rather than in chunks and pieces. (:

As per Lauraly, I’ll mark them off as I go.

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
Jude
Revelation

I’m almost finished reading the entire Bible, really?

Since November I’ve read Revelation, Hebrews, Malachi, Zechariah, Ephesians, Colossians and Philipians.

That leaves me with only 11 of the small books left. I’m stunned! :D

In other news, I’ve decided I’d like to start collecting Bibles.