Day 3466 – Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

Last year, I did a bible reading plan that took me through the whole bible. I completed it, but if I’m being honest, it didn’t make a big difference in my life, it didn’t touch my soul. Sure there were some days that I got something out of it, at the end of the day though, it was about checking it off my list.

As 2019 approached, I started thinking about what I would do for my devotional reading. I’ve had an ESV study bible for years, have tried to read the whole thing a few times, but didn’t have much success. For some crazy reason, this chick thought this year would be a good time to read all 2750 pages, on which the text is 9pt and the notes are 7 pt – basically, a whole lot of reading.

I kept trying to talk myself out of it. I kept seeing the massiveness of it all. I really didn’t want to do it.

I think my mind kept going to how little I got out of last year. Despite trying to get out of it, I decided to start, taking the pressure off myself to read it in a year, to just go down the list of chapters and additional material, and finish when I finish.

What happened on the very first day surprised me but it reminded me that I had a similar experience on previous attempts – I got really excited about what I read. What’s neat about the study bible is that it expands, explains, and gives background on what you read. Deepening my understanding about the Word of God has already been a really awesome experience. Every day, I’ve been excited to read and leave my devotions uplifted and in awe of God.

So if you’re looking at big, hunkin’ book (whether printed or otherwise) and thinking it’s going to be one way, give it a chance and it might surprise you.