A Resolution Accomplished: Reading Through the Bible

Our Small Groups coordinator Micki Gallagher recently finished reading through the Bible for the first time, and we asked her to write a bit about her experience in the post below.

You’re never too old to get started…

About a year ago, Jeremy asked the congregation during one of his sermons, “who here has read the complete bible?” Unfortunately, I was not able to put up my hand. It was quite a reality check for me! How can I share God’s Word with others when I haven’t even fully read His Word? That sat in my heart till New Year’s Day when I had a little chat with God and clearly heard Him “Just read my Word this year”. I have been very busy over the last few years reading many bible study books, Christian motivational books and other positive living books, which are all well and good—but they are not the Bible. In fact they were keeping me away from reading my Bible! So, my only New Year’s Resolution this year was to read the Bible completely!

I’m grateful this morning to have finished reading the complete bible 🤗! Not that it’s a checklist thing, I just wanted to be obedient & get to know God’s Word better & get to know Him better.  I can’t say it was an easy read, there were many times as I was reading the Old Testament that I felt confused, sad, depressed even at the events, & many times I just didn’t want to read anymore! So many questions were in my head! So much killing, so much violence and bloodshed & animal sacrifices. Thankfully Jeremy helped coach me to just keep reading the Old Testament, that was a hard one!  “Just keep reading Micki, it will get better, things will come clearer”. And it did!

Thankfully also, the reading plan had me reading part of the Old Testament every day & ending with a New Testament reading, which allowed my heart to always end in “The Good News of Jesus!” I will need to keep reading it over & over again, I will learn something new each time I do. But now, I am not reading it “just to get through it”, now, I am reading it slowly to soak in God’s words, to get to know Him better, to understand His heart, to see what He did for the Israelites in captivity to the promised land, to read the prophesies in the Old Testament that came true in the New Testament! There is so much to learn from His word, Old Testament & New Testament!

I look at my bible differently now, I hold on to it more now, I desire to read it more now, sometimes I just hold on to it as I pray. The words come alive for me now, I understand more, yet there is so much more for me to keep learning! There is a difference, but I can’t express it right now.
A New Year’s Resolution I made with God, and I kept it!! 
Feeling grateful!

Micki Gallagher