The Bible is arguably the greatest book ever printed and is one of the most influential (and best-selling) books of all time. Considered sacred and divinely inspired by millions around the world, the Bible’s contents have inspired everything from charities to crusades. I was raised in a Christian family and am proud to be a Christian, but even though I’d read a lot of the Bible, I couldn’t honestly say that I’d read the entire Bible from cover to cover – that is, until Saturday.
When I drafted my first “bucket list” two years ago, “Read the entire Bible” was one of the first items that I placed on that original bucket list, but I didn't get serious about accomplishing this goal until about a year ago. From past experience, I knew that there were many “Read the Bible in a Year” plans out there, so I found a suitable one online and printed it out. There are a lot of different types of these plans available, but I picked one that took me through the Bible from front to back, in order from Genesis to Revelation. To find a good Bible reading plan, just Google it. You’ll find a ton of them.
My plan divided the Bible into 365 parts, one for each day of the year, and told me where to start and finish each day. Each daily chunk of reading usually amounted to about 15 minutes of my time. With that in mind, I knew that if I read 30 minutes a day, I’d finish the Bible in about six months, and in four months if I read it for 45 minutes a day. An hour’s worth of reading each day would allow me to finish it in about three months. After each reading, I’d scratch that day off my printed plan, and over time I made my way through the Bible at a steady pace. If I happened to miss a day, which I did every now and then, I’d just make sure to double up the next day.
The version of The Bible that I read was the New King James Version edition published in 1999 by Thomas Nelson Publishers in Nashville, Tenn. Including all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, it was 1,104 pages long. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t understand all of it, but I did enjoy getting the “big picture” effect of reading it from start to finish.
Now that I’ve read the entire Bible, I can say that without a doubt that this is the most satisfying “life list” or “bucket list” item that I’ve scratched off since I started this project over a year ago. That means that I’d rank it ahead of visiting the Grand Canyon and finishing a marathon. It even ranks way above drinking goat’s milk and eating octopus.
In the end, I highly encourage everyone to read the entire Bible. You’ll not only be enriched by the experience, but it just might change you life. I’ll even go so far as to guarantee that if you read the entire Bible, you won’t regret it.
2013 LIFE LIST ITEMS I’VE SCRATCHED OFF TO DATE:
- Ate at Big Daddy’s Grill in Fairhope
- Ate at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club in Mobile
- Ate catfish at the Stage Coach Café in Stockton
- Ate octopus
- Attended a Beulah Campground service
- Drank a fresh lemonade at Toomer’s Drugs in Auburn
- Drank goat’s milk
- Hiked the Grand Canyon
- Joined the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
- Joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Listened to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” from start to finish without interruption
- Listened to The Beatles’ “White Album” without interruption
- Planted a vegetable garden
- Ran the Alligator Trot 5K in Florala
- Ran the Battle of Mobile Bay 5K on Dauphin Island
- Ran through the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile
- Read all the Hellboy graphic novels
- Read “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie
- Read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
- Read MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech
- Read “Savage Wilderness” by Barry Ralph
- Read the entire Bible
- Saw the Ginkgo tree in Evergreen
- Tried 100 different types of beer
- Visited the Grand Canyon
- Visited the grave of Lewis Lavon Peacock
- Watched “A Streetcar Named Desire”
- Watched “Brazil” (1985)
- Watched “Dracula” (1931)
- Watched “Nosferatu” (1922)
- Watched “This Is Spinal Tap”
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: The whole point of these life list updates is NOT to draw attention to myself or to anything that I’ve done. Instead, I hope to encourage others to accomplish their own goals. I’m just a regular guy, and if I can do these things, so can you.)
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