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| From the Mount of Olives |
I have spent this year reading my way through the Bible. By the end of the year, I will have read the entire thing. The women in our church were challenged to do it in Discipleship Groups. I joined with seven other women, and we are doing it together.
I am so glad that I did this. It is officially the first time I have done it somewhat successfully. I have studied the bible in-depth and probably read much of it through studies. This effort is from Genesis to Revelation. Today was a huge marker for me. I read the last book in the Old Testament. I made it to and read Malachi. I cannot lie. A huge sigh of relief came over me. My takeaway from reading the Old Testament is how faithful, good, and super slow to anger God is. Following that takeaway is how flawed humanity is and prone to mess up and wander. As I read it, I reminded myself that these people didn't have the Spirit of God dwelling within them as I do. So, I had to offer them such grace and mercy. They were fully captured by their human condition. Even the best of them were steeped in sin.
As I ended the book of Malachi, I was washed over with a sense of excitement, and then a thought occurred to me. For the Israelites, it will be four hundred years before they will hear anything from God again. The silence made my heart hurt, but then Jesus broke through that silence and came onto the scene with good news for us all. Hallelujah!
After reading about man's effort to reach God, finally, there is a way. We will never be good enough, proven repeatedly in the Old Testament books. My right position with God gives me access to God. It gives me access to be in an intimate relationship with my Creator. Before I accepted Jesus' payment for my sinful condition, I was doomed to miss the mark of God's expectations. That means I was lost in my sin. I am doomed to repeat it over and over. However, I am no longer defined by that sin and am now being referred to as a saint by authors like Paul, who authored a good deal of the New Testament. That means I am defined by what Jesus did, not by what I have done. That is not just good news. It is the best news ever.
I am so excited to start the New Testament tomorrow.
I am doing "The Bible Recap" with Tara Leigh Cobble. I use the You Version App, and it is one of the plans you can choose. Day 274 is where the New Testament starts. The author also does a podcast to help navigate each day's reading. Each time you start a new book of the bible, there is a video by "The Bible Project" that summarizes the book.
This is well done and highly doable. It has been challenging but rewarding.
After you read this, I hope you will go and check it out. Come along on the journey.
If you read this and sense the Holy Spirit prick your conscience, do not ignore it. Respond to it in an honest conversation with Him. You see, I cannot convict you of sin, nor can I convince you of your right relationship and standing before God. What I can do is pray for you. I pray that the God of the Universe will open the eyes of your heart so that you can comprehend how much He longs to spend time with you and do life with you. I pray that you will comprehend that apart from Him, you can do nothing to be right with Him. If a still, small voice is speaking to you right now, do not ignore it. Instead, say YES to it today. I have never regretted saying yes to God's answer to my sin problem. Not once. It changed the trajectory of my life. I will thankfully never be the same again. I pray that you comprehend that you can be a saint by responding to His answer too.
If I am going to drive from point A to point B, the best person to ask is the one that travels it. There may be a multitude of ways you can go. Some may take you off-road, through detours, in dangerous places, but one takes you there quickly and safely. He gave us a wonderful roadmap called the Bible. It is not demanding; it is the best way to navigate this life. It doesn't promise you that there will not be trials on the journey or even storms. Jesus tells us there will be, but it is the BEST way!
