On January 1 2011 I decided to read technical information every day in pursuit of my dreams. Alarmed, I then realized that it is just wrong to make that kind of commitment without having completely read the Bible at least once. So I'm doing both. I'm reading The One Year Bible, The entire New Lving Translation arranged in 365 daily readings. I found that by day 11 I was actually enjoying it because of how it is arranged. Kings James version will have to be next reading. In fact I refered to that version it when I encountered something that fascinated me.
It became a habit!!
On January 21th I passed 21 days. It is said anything you do for 21 days becomes a habit. 344 to go
It has been done!!! At 10:52 a.m. Saturday 12 31 2011 I finished in 365 days!!
It has been a journey and far more fascinating than I imagined it would be.
What is the end result? No I still can’t quote chapter and verses but I do have a mantra that emerged from the experience. I should “Worry about nothing, pray about everything and trust God totally”. This is what I will carry into 2012, or it will carry me.
How did I get here?
As I wrote in the beginning of the year, I set a goal to read the Bible in a year. To this end, I used “The Bible in 365 days”. No, the intent was not to emerge understanding every word. I wanted to get beyond “sound bites” or verses that others were quoting to me. I wanted to get the big picture. To find information that speaks to me personally. I did.
Throughout the year I underlined and highlighted anything I found interesting, helpful, puzzling, or even controversial. My favorite was “Worry about nothing, pray about everything”.
In general I was amazed at how everything in life seems to be biblical. There truly is nothing new as it relates to human behavior. I also question the concept of separation of church and state. Even our legal system runs much like the Bible dictates.
One morning in route to a meeting , I noticed I was driving behind a car with one of my personal repeating number as the first three digits of its tag. Because this usually appears when God/the universe wants to get my attention, I then said myself “what is this about?” That’s when I noticed the last three digits were TGT. The analytical me went into action. What did those letters stand for? I tried every combination I could think of and then gave up. Moments later I got it!!! Trust God Totally!!!
What now? I am reviewing my highlighting and underlined verses for clues as to where I should start truly studying for full understanding, without consideration for timeframe.
Anthing can be done.
Another benefit of this effort is it sharpened my commitment to goal setting. I will have 2012 set by midnight Tuesday. I have big plans in motion, just have to organize them into goals. 2011 lets me know anything can be done.