I Finally Ate the
Whole Thing
By Carolyn
Hulliberger
“He told me, “Son
of man, eat this book that I am giving you. Make a full meal of it.”
Ezekiel
3:3 (The Message)
I
have been a Christian a long time. I’ve done small groups, Bible studies,
Sunday school classes. However, there was one thing that I had not done (and
frankly I’m a little embarrassed to say here), and that is to read the whole
Bible from cover to cover. Oh, I tried, but I would get partway (usually to Leviticus)
and peter out. I rationalized that, over the course of years, I’m sure that I’d
covered the whole Bible in one way or another.
Last
fall, I was challenged by our Student Ministries Pastor to “Eat This Book” and
read the Bible in a year with our students. It was finally the motivation that
I needed. I discovered (or re-discovered) several things:
- There are lots of gaps in my Bible knowledge…no way had I covered it all previously.
- The heroes of the Bible are no different than you or I…flawed individuals trying to figure out this life.
- The whole book is a story that climaxes at the Resurrection of Jesus. The Old Testament addresses why we needed Christ to come, and the New Testament is the story of His earthly presence and the start of His church.
- Like all literature, the beginning and the ending are critically important. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” sets the stage for all that follows (Genesis 1:1, NIV). The last verse of Scripture says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen” (Revelation 22:21, NIV). Someone once told me that the meaning of Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. What a picture is given when I remembered that acronym in this last verse.
My
husband’s grandmother had many tally marks in pencil in the back of her Bible. When
asked, she told me each mark represented her completion of reading the whole
book. I told her I was impressed. She
then replied, “Oh, I stopped keeping track a long time ago because I didn’t
want to become prideful!”
I
would love to follow her example and read it through so often than I lose track
of the number of times I complete it. I’ll just have to keep eating.
Care
to join me?
GOING DEEPER:
1.
Take on the “Eat This Book” challenge to read the Bible in a year. If you want
a partner, contact the author of this devotional.
2.
If you get frustrated, try reading in a different version. The Message is written in updated
language. Changing up the language style can really help.
FURTHER READING:
Along
with caring for her family, Carolyn works as an insurance representative,
serves in Oakwood
Church’s Student
Ministries with an awesome group of junior high girls, and is the treasurer for
Women’s Ministries.
