March 3rd, 2023
I have been traveling through the Old Testament these past few years. I have always wanted to read the Bible cover to cover. I have started several of the “read the bible in a year” plans, enjoying good progress through Genesis and Exodus........but then it happens. If you have embarked on one of these journeys, you know what comes next…. the first extended hill of this biblical marathon. Leviticus. And like many of us that set off on this journey, I usually lose steam by March, only then to abandon my pursuit altogether.
But about 3 years ago I began to meet with a good friend and mentor who shared with me a difference perspective and approach on how to read the Bible cover to cover. “Just try read a little each day as you can” he said. “There is no schedule, being in the Word is far more important that finishing at a certain time”. He has read the Bible cover to cover at least 30 times in his life. Sometimes it takes him a year, sometimes two, sometimes three.
So in early 2020, I begin the journey of reading the Bible, cover to cover with this mindset. No timetable. No deadline. No reading plan other than to keep on going. This morning, I started the book Hosea. If you do the math, I am traveling at a snails pace. But I am going somewhere. I have been in the Old Testament for 3 years now, and I have enjoyed seeing the Word fill my life with the riches of its truth about who God is and what He is doing on the earth. Here are 2 themes that keep coming up as I have read through at least 17 different authors spanning over 3,000 years of biblical history in the Old Testament.
1. God’s people just cant stay on the right path for very long
Human nature hasn’t changed in 3,000 years. From Eden, to the people of Moses’s day, to the idol worshipers of the Kings… we love to worship dead idols that don’t produce life. Whether it’s a carved image or the modern image of self exaltation, human nature reverts back to worship everything but the living God. Both Baal and the 21st century entertainment driven, me focused culture are both poor Gods that leave us empty and unsatisfied.
2. God is and has always been incredibly merciful and gracious to people that aren’t even close to being worthy of it
These days sometimes you hear a teacher or scholar making God out to be this unjust angry being that is always looking for a reason to punish His creation for messing up. When one actually reads the Old Testament, the opposite becomes very clear. God gives chance after change to His people to turn back to Him. He endures countless generations of people turning their back on Him, repenting of their sin and pleading for His grace, only to run to idols yet again. And the cycle keeps repeating itself, yet God remains faithful to His people and never gives up on them, just as He promised Abraham many, many years ago.
These truths have been come so clear to me these past few years. I see the same heart issues in myself that I see in the people of Israel. And the Lord meets me with the same great grace that He has always met His people with.
Praise be to Him that He is faithful to His promises and these words will always be true.
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9
Josh Nims
But about 3 years ago I began to meet with a good friend and mentor who shared with me a difference perspective and approach on how to read the Bible cover to cover. “Just try read a little each day as you can” he said. “There is no schedule, being in the Word is far more important that finishing at a certain time”. He has read the Bible cover to cover at least 30 times in his life. Sometimes it takes him a year, sometimes two, sometimes three.
So in early 2020, I begin the journey of reading the Bible, cover to cover with this mindset. No timetable. No deadline. No reading plan other than to keep on going. This morning, I started the book Hosea. If you do the math, I am traveling at a snails pace. But I am going somewhere. I have been in the Old Testament for 3 years now, and I have enjoyed seeing the Word fill my life with the riches of its truth about who God is and what He is doing on the earth. Here are 2 themes that keep coming up as I have read through at least 17 different authors spanning over 3,000 years of biblical history in the Old Testament.
1. God’s people just cant stay on the right path for very long
Human nature hasn’t changed in 3,000 years. From Eden, to the people of Moses’s day, to the idol worshipers of the Kings… we love to worship dead idols that don’t produce life. Whether it’s a carved image or the modern image of self exaltation, human nature reverts back to worship everything but the living God. Both Baal and the 21st century entertainment driven, me focused culture are both poor Gods that leave us empty and unsatisfied.
2. God is and has always been incredibly merciful and gracious to people that aren’t even close to being worthy of it
These days sometimes you hear a teacher or scholar making God out to be this unjust angry being that is always looking for a reason to punish His creation for messing up. When one actually reads the Old Testament, the opposite becomes very clear. God gives chance after change to His people to turn back to Him. He endures countless generations of people turning their back on Him, repenting of their sin and pleading for His grace, only to run to idols yet again. And the cycle keeps repeating itself, yet God remains faithful to His people and never gives up on them, just as He promised Abraham many, many years ago.
These truths have been come so clear to me these past few years. I see the same heart issues in myself that I see in the people of Israel. And the Lord meets me with the same great grace that He has always met His people with.
Praise be to Him that He is faithful to His promises and these words will always be true.
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9
Josh Nims
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