I’ll never forget my daughter’s words in the year that everything changed. 

It was early 2020 when she said, “It’s not like we actually act like Christians.” 

The breath was sucked from my lungs and it felt like a knife in my chest. Immediately I rose up in defensiveness.

What do you mean? We’re in church every week. I teach Sunday school. I adopted a child for heaven’s sake. Of course we ACT like Christians. 

And then in an instant I was confronted by my own hypocrisy. The decisions I’d made, the anger I harbored, the words I said, the reckless life I was leading that few but my children were really privy to. It was as if Jesus was standing there telling me everything I had ever done.

That is the moment that I vowed to change. For real this time. Because it was true, I was living a fake life, and my children knew it. No one reveals our character better than our children. She likely spewed these words off in her teenage angst. It’s unbelievable that God would speak through a surly teenager, but he did speak out of the mouth of a …donkey… so I suppose it is possible. Either way, she was right. If my children were going to have a chance at knowing and believing Jesus, my life had to change inside and outside of the walls of our home.

A few months before this, I made the resolution to read through the Bible in a year. I’ve made this declaration before, but never followed through. It’s actually kind of difficult to do. Other times in my life I tried to maintain a “quiet time” because that is what all good Christians do. That would work as long as I had a bible study workbook or a certain text to read, usually the book of Philippians, or Isaiah if I was motivated. Sometimes I used the “open and read” method. All of this left me floundering and confused.

Previously, a friend shared on Facebook about reading through the Bible with an accompanying podcast that helps to explain some of the confusing parts and keep the entire story in perspective. I signed up for the reading plan and connected to the podcast.

Three things happened. First, I wanted more and more of it. It became less like eating broccoli and more like chocolate chip cookies. Second, understanding the Scriptures in the context of the overarching meta-narrative created a much richer experience because it provided context. Third, I stopped looking for myself in the day’s reading and started looking for God. As I learned more about who God is, I saw myself truly for who I was.

These things are so revolutionary, you need to read them again.

1. The Bible only gets better and better. 
2. If you haven’t read the Old Testament, you’re reading the New Testament with a lot of missing information. Things aren’t going to make sense.  
3. Look for God in the Bible, not yourself. 

The Bible is such a crucial tool that so many Christians neglect. Yet it contains the words of life, wisdom, and hope. There have been many times in the last few years that God has used the exact day of reading in the Bible to speak healing words to me. The Holy Spirit in conjunction with the text of the Scripture acts as a counselor who is on call 24/7, is trauma trained, and has our complete history (even the things that we don’t want to talk to ANYONE about!)

Someone once explained parenting to me as the rumble bars on the side of the road. When our kids sway to the side one way or the other, it’s our job to alert them that they are going off of the path. The Holy Spirit and Scripture work similarly. God certainly speaks to us individually and collectively through the Holy Spirit, but without the Bible we are likely to wander off to crazy town. LIkewise, the Bible speaks to us and provides guidance, but without the Holy Spirit we can be a tad legalistic. We need both. They work together. 

I so want you to unwrap the goodness in the Bible if it’s sitting dusty on your shelf. The investment of time will reap rewards in your relationships, your career and every other aspect of your life. I have been typing and deleting and typing and deleting trying to decide what to say to convince you, but suddenly I realized that it’s not my job to convince you! I am praying that the Holy Spirit will speak to you in a way that is meaningful to you. Perhaps by a donkey, or your surly teenage daughter, or some other beautiful or humorous way. When that happens, will you come back and tell me?