Reason #579
We have something to do every single night this week. In fact, every night we've finally gotten home around 9:30 or 10:00, so needless to say, the late nights are catching up with me. It's amazing how impossible it is to keep your house up, too, when you're gone. You'd think that our absence would leave it cleaner, not true. Anyway, we've stayed up too late, gotten up too late, and we've got our work cut out for us tomorrow.
Last week we decided we'd start reading through the bible. The goal is to read through it in a year. Really, I shouldn't use the word goal because goal usually means something you are attempting to achieve. When we set goals, we try our best to meet them but it doesn't always mean that we do. I've set lots of goals for myself in life, and as long as I got close to meeting it, I was satisfied. And so rather than making this a goal, we decided to make it a commitment. We would do this no matter what. In order to make it through the entire bible in a year, we decided that we'd have a set number of chapters to read each week. We could read them at our own pace and then we'd discuss what we learned at the end of the week. By doing this, we could read it however we wanted. Naturally, you'd think it'd be easy to just read it all the first day and coast the last 6, however, it's almost midnight on Wednesday night and I have yet to read any of the chapters for week two. That's right. Looks like Saturday is going to be a reading day for me. Week one, I started strong. I think I'm going to be cutting it close this week, and we aren't even that far in.
I know myself, and I know that if I give myself any slack, I'll take it. I'm sure a lot of people think I'm tightly wound and too straight laced, but I've learned throughout life that if I allow myself too much rope, I'll end up hanging off the end by a thread. Some people have better self restraint than I do. Some people are so much more disciplined than I am, so I find myself often times having to go to the extreme. Example, I love sugar. More than that, I love chocolate, and after every single meal I want something sweet to eat. I realize that eating sugar after every single meal isn't the healthiest move, plus my metabolism is starting to catch up to me. Therefore, I don't keep sweets in the house. I know that I'd eat them and not sparingly, either. I'd take the "remove temptation in its entirety" approach and get rid of them as fast as possible. I am not one of those who can look at a whole cake and cut an appropriate slice to eat. No, I eat a fourth of it in one setting, and I just justify doing so by cutting it into a lot of really small slices.
And even though eating sweets isn't anything at all like reading the bible, I've come to realize that if I allow myself room to "cheat" or give myself a few days off, I will never accomplish what I set out to do. Because one day turns to two, turns to a week and then a month. And the next thing I know, my goal is to read the bible in its entirety before I die. And so go figure that I'd make a commitment to do something and have the craziest and most exhausting week two weeks in. But that's just life, and there comes a point where we have to determine how serious we are about the commitments we make. Is it really that important to us? If it is, we will find a way to do it. Whether it be giving up a TV show, waking up a little earlier, or simply being more intentional with free time, there's always time to follow through, it's just a matter of actually keeping your word and arranging your schedule to make it happen.
This one is going to be a challenge, I can already tell. But I actually want to do it this time. I actually want to be a woman of my word and start what I finish. Plenty are the times in life that I've given up quickly or changed my mind, and I don't want this to be another one of those occasions. And truth be told, if there's anything we need to make time for, it's the Lord. Time spent in the word is never wasted. And if there is one thing that would be the biggest benefit to me both now and forever, it's to know God more, know what His word says, and make a point to learn it so I can share it.
So here's to a year of reading the bible regardless of how hectic each week is. Here's to a commitment that is going to be challenging and tough. Yet I look forward to seeing what happens each week, whether I read it all in one day or take all 7. Because I never thought I'd actually write about something for 579 days yet I've made it this far. I think that just goes to show how seriously God takes commitment, too. If we commit something to Him, He'll help us get it done. And I don't know about you, but I'm grateful to serve a God who honors every commitment He makes. A God who always follows through and keeps His word. And this time next year, I'm looking forward to actually being able to know everything in that word.
#579 - For His word and the ability to read it, know it, and learn it so I can truly live it.
"Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!" - Psalm 86:11
Last week we decided we'd start reading through the bible. The goal is to read through it in a year. Really, I shouldn't use the word goal because goal usually means something you are attempting to achieve. When we set goals, we try our best to meet them but it doesn't always mean that we do. I've set lots of goals for myself in life, and as long as I got close to meeting it, I was satisfied. And so rather than making this a goal, we decided to make it a commitment. We would do this no matter what. In order to make it through the entire bible in a year, we decided that we'd have a set number of chapters to read each week. We could read them at our own pace and then we'd discuss what we learned at the end of the week. By doing this, we could read it however we wanted. Naturally, you'd think it'd be easy to just read it all the first day and coast the last 6, however, it's almost midnight on Wednesday night and I have yet to read any of the chapters for week two. That's right. Looks like Saturday is going to be a reading day for me. Week one, I started strong. I think I'm going to be cutting it close this week, and we aren't even that far in.
I know myself, and I know that if I give myself any slack, I'll take it. I'm sure a lot of people think I'm tightly wound and too straight laced, but I've learned throughout life that if I allow myself too much rope, I'll end up hanging off the end by a thread. Some people have better self restraint than I do. Some people are so much more disciplined than I am, so I find myself often times having to go to the extreme. Example, I love sugar. More than that, I love chocolate, and after every single meal I want something sweet to eat. I realize that eating sugar after every single meal isn't the healthiest move, plus my metabolism is starting to catch up to me. Therefore, I don't keep sweets in the house. I know that I'd eat them and not sparingly, either. I'd take the "remove temptation in its entirety" approach and get rid of them as fast as possible. I am not one of those who can look at a whole cake and cut an appropriate slice to eat. No, I eat a fourth of it in one setting, and I just justify doing so by cutting it into a lot of really small slices.
And even though eating sweets isn't anything at all like reading the bible, I've come to realize that if I allow myself room to "cheat" or give myself a few days off, I will never accomplish what I set out to do. Because one day turns to two, turns to a week and then a month. And the next thing I know, my goal is to read the bible in its entirety before I die. And so go figure that I'd make a commitment to do something and have the craziest and most exhausting week two weeks in. But that's just life, and there comes a point where we have to determine how serious we are about the commitments we make. Is it really that important to us? If it is, we will find a way to do it. Whether it be giving up a TV show, waking up a little earlier, or simply being more intentional with free time, there's always time to follow through, it's just a matter of actually keeping your word and arranging your schedule to make it happen.
This one is going to be a challenge, I can already tell. But I actually want to do it this time. I actually want to be a woman of my word and start what I finish. Plenty are the times in life that I've given up quickly or changed my mind, and I don't want this to be another one of those occasions. And truth be told, if there's anything we need to make time for, it's the Lord. Time spent in the word is never wasted. And if there is one thing that would be the biggest benefit to me both now and forever, it's to know God more, know what His word says, and make a point to learn it so I can share it.
So here's to a year of reading the bible regardless of how hectic each week is. Here's to a commitment that is going to be challenging and tough. Yet I look forward to seeing what happens each week, whether I read it all in one day or take all 7. Because I never thought I'd actually write about something for 579 days yet I've made it this far. I think that just goes to show how seriously God takes commitment, too. If we commit something to Him, He'll help us get it done. And I don't know about you, but I'm grateful to serve a God who honors every commitment He makes. A God who always follows through and keeps His word. And this time next year, I'm looking forward to actually being able to know everything in that word.
#579 - For His word and the ability to read it, know it, and learn it so I can truly live it.
"Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!" - Psalm 86:11
Get it, Brittyne! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
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