This year I participated with the Carmel, Indiana Seventh-day Adventist Church in a challenge to read the Bible through, along with the Conflict of the Ages series by Ellen G. White.  Though a life-long Adventist Christian, I had never read the Bible through cover to cover. So, January 1, 2021, I started out, determined to stay up with the schedule. 

I found the schedule doable and not overwhelming.  On average, I would spend about an hour each day, in the morning, doing both the Bible reading and one of the Spirit of Prophecy (SOP) books.  As time progressed, I became more compelled to truly study the Bible, by comparing texts and reading Bible study helps, as well as reading historical accounts.  It was then that I began to devote 2-2 ½ hours to Bible study and read the chapter from the SOP book that night.
 

Initially, I was disappointed that the SOP books didn’t correlate very often with what I was reading in the Bible, in terms of chronological history.  For instance, I was reading the Desire of Ages (the book on the life of Christ) while I was in the Old Testament.  However, to my surprise, I found the book even more enriching as I read about the messianic prophecies such as in Isaiah.  The prophecies took form and shape in the life of Christ as I read about Him.

  
I am currently nearing the end of the New Testament and The Great Controversy.  It was fascinating to me to see so many parallels between the persecution of the early Christian church during Paul’s life and the reformers of the Dark Ages. 

I find that my spiritual understanding and perspective has been deeply enriched and broadened over this past year. I have rarely missed a day reading this year, not so much because of wanting to stay up with the schedule, but because I just can’t imagine a day without being in the Word.   It seemed the more I read of the Bible the more I craved it and to miss a day was unacceptable to me. 

I have grasped things about God’s character that I had not understood before.  When I read about how low into the depths of immorality and evilness God’s chosen people had plummeted during the times of the kings of Israel, I saw in contrast how merciful, long suffering and fair God was, and is.  So many times, we only think of the God of the Old Testament in terms of His wrath against His people, not truly grasping how low they sank into the depths of abject wickedness, beyond what the heathen nations were doing.  I began to wonder in awe at the longsuffering and patience of God at the repeated apostasy of this nation that was chosen to be a light to the world. It made me contemplate my own life and how I must have caused grief to the Lord when I have strayed.
 

The dual meanings all through the Bible were also very apparent both in the Old and New Testaments, with implications for my daily life as well as the world.  I have a much better grasp on the prophetic messages of Daniel, though paradoxically, the more I learn it seems the greater my realization of how little I know just because of the depth of these prophecies and the implications throughout time.
 

This experience has been such a rich one for me that I am torn between starting over again in January or completing an in-depth study of Daniel and Revelation.  At any rate, I am no longer satisfied with a simple quick reading of a chapter of the Bible to start my day. His Word has truly become a light unto my path and I’m so grateful for accepting this life changing challenge. 

~From Michelle in Texas