What's your hurry?

What's your hurry?

We spend  a lot of our lives in a hurry. In a reward driven culture everything is go, go, go. Our purchase decisions are partially driven by price, but second to price is speed. 
We have a hard time with long term goals, its a fast food, Amazon Prime kind of  world.
I came to a place in my life where I realized that most of what I knew of God I had learned from others. I wanted to know God for myself, from His word. I was ready to own what I believed and be able to say why I believed it.
 I sat down and once again started to work my way through the Bible, looking to know God.
 If I carefully read one chapter per week, I calculated it would take Seven years. 
My next thought was, no way,! That's to long.
Should I ,maybe speed it up and do a chapter a day? The truth was, I knew that was unrealistic if I was going to absorb it, and I would end up burning out.
Let's re-evaluate.
What is the goal? Why am I doing this in the first place?
If the goal is to know God then taking it slow and understanding each chapter would be the smarter choice. Its also more sustainable.
Here's the thing, why not just let it take a long time? Seven years to take the Bible slow and really know it,  is better than quitting every year as soon as I hit Leviticus; or piecing the Bible together from stories, tidbits and a verses you learned in Sunday School. What's the rush? Dust off your Bible and join us.
Lets read the Bible, beginning to end, one week at a time.

Verses on why we should study the Bible:

James 1:22-25

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

2 Peter 1:20

²⁰ Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.

²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

John 17:15-17

¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[a] the truth; your word is truth.

Romans 15:4

⁴ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,¹⁷ so that the servant of God^[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Isaiah 55:8-11

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. 
¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, 
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

 

Hebrews 4:12

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Proverbs 30;5-6

John 10:7-10

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.^[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

James 1:22-25

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.