From Cover to Cover

A few days ago I finished reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. This was the first time I had done so in my 25 years of following the Lord Jesus Christ. Previously I read through the New Testament in its entirety but knew I needed to do the same with the Old Testament. There have been people I witnessed to who asked if I read the entire Bible. (Until I had done so, I replied, “I’ve read enough to know I’m going to heaven when my life ends. How about you?”)

While conducting polls at his meetings, one well-known evangelist determined as many as 80% of believers never read the whole Bible. He pointed out the early Christians didn’t have a New Testament to read. The Bereans “…searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) They studied Old Testament passages to verify that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. There are many other truths we can learn from the saints of old. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

So if you haven’t yet read the whole Bible, I exhort you to do so. Many times we find ourselves waiting in line at the bank or a restaurant. Lately I’ve used those times to read Scripture on my smartphone. I also always have a small Gideons Bible in my back pocket. Either of these tools can be used to help one fulfill the goal of reading God’s word from cover to cover.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” - 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

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