Rte 66 - Terminus

Starting back in February, I began on my journey to read through the Bible from Genesis in the Old Testament (book 1) to Revelation in the New Testament (book 66) in a modern translation of the Bible called The Message. Every month or so I provided an update on my "rest stops" along the way. The first was after I had completed my reading up through Job, the second was after completing the Old Testament, the third was after completing my reading through Romans. Now after a little more than four months, I have reached the terminus of my journey in the completion of my reading of Revelation.

I can say that it was very difficult to pace myself in this reading. My tendency is naturally to treat a reading "assignment" like this as a sprint, instead of a marathon. It can easily become a race to check that "task completed" box as if that was the plum to be plucked. Yet, I think, looking back on this time, I treated it with respect and gave it my full attention. I think that I am satisfied both with what I gave and what I got. This extended period in God's word also taught me to appreciate my devotional time a bit more, especially in the morning before I start my day. In the past I would read my daily devotional and a couple minutes later, I would rush off into the fray. Now, I get up a few minutes early and spend some extra time thinking and praying. A bit more intentional, a bit more devotional. I think that I will keep this up. My take is that I would recommend all Christ followers, if they have not read through the Bible, to make this a goal with some priority. Even if its just a complete reading of the New Testament. The Message version of the Bible is one that I would recommend highly.