I Read The Bible Every Day for a Year- Here’s What Happened

Over the last few years, I’ve been on a major journey when it comes to my faith. 

There have been countless highs and lows, but through all of the questions, doubt, and crippling emotional pain, God has been the only consistent, unfailing source of goodness in my life.

After giving my life to Christ back in 2017, I’ve been on a constant search for more. And unsurprisingly, everything I heard and read pointed back to His word as the ultimate source of truth.

I had been reading the bible on and off for about a year, often throwing it to the side when things got too busy or if I was feeling particularly lazy.

But one thing was always true: every time I picked it up, His unfailing love was revealed once again, and it felt good.

So, when the time came to set my 2019 goals, I decided on only three:

1. Finish uni (done)
2. Get fit (still working on that one)
3. Read the bible every day

I went into it thinking that this goal would never come to fruition, but surprisingly, it was the easiest of them all to complete.

Typically, when I set my mind on something, absolutely nothing can stop me. But at the same time, it’s a big struggle to stay on track when the world is typically working against you.

But for some reason, doing this wasn’t actually hard at all. Literally, not difficult in the slightest.

Why?

Because the bible is not a book that you read once a day then leave at home. Reading it is not a chore that you tick off your ‘to-do’ list and forget about until it’s time to do it again.

It is something that stays with you, always. It’s life, on paper. It’s kind of… everything.

And now we’re here, over a year later.

There have been three occasions where I’ve failed due to falling asleep, but for the other 362+ days, we did it, fam.

So, what exactly happened? What did I actually gain from doing this?

A heck of a lot, fam. A heck of a lot.

1. Understanding

First and foremost, being in the word for this long as helped me to truly understand God’s character, which makes it significantly easier to answer the many questions that get thrown my way when I unveil my status as a Christian to a new friend.

This time last year, I don’t think I would’ve been able to properly explain what being a Christian actually is, and even though I’m still far from fully understanding it (and probably always will be), the word has equipped me with the confidence to step out in faith and let Him do the talking.

2. Fellowship

Back in 2017, I thought that fellowship was completely optional and that going to church didn’t affect your relationship with God at all- and in hindsight, I now see how much time I wasted trying to conquer life and figure things out on my own.

Learning more about God lead me to the church that I now attend, and the friendships I’ve since gained have truly changed my life for the better. Never, in my entire life, did I picture myself as a ‘church person’, but alas, here we are- and I like myself a lot more than I did before.

3. Purpose

Let’s get this straight: I don’t know the meaning of life, and I think I’ll be searching to find it for the rest of mine.

But if the bible has taught me one thing, it’s that our purpose is not to simply ‘get by’.

Whether you believe in Him or not, God has anointed each and every one of us with a unique purpose, and more often than not, it’s not the one we expect.

Life is so much bigger than us. So much bigger.

I went into this year with no idea where my life was heading or what I was going to do with my time post-university, but thanks to the growth in my relationship with God, the path that I was always meant to take was brightly lit and completely free from distortion.

And now that it’s almost time to step onto it, I feel more ready than ever. I’m packed up and ready to go, and His word will be by my side every day of the journey (I’m aware this is a cheesy metaphor, but we’re going with it).