february 19, 2024 #livingoutluke252

 february 19, 2024

daily documenting #livingoutluke252 

I set out last monday to try and listen to the New Testament in a week (if you read/listen to 40 chapters a day you can do the NT in a week and the whole Bible in a month!). I told myself I wouldn’t rush it and that I’d give myself all the grace whether I completed it or not in that timeframe. Even 20 chapters a day would be amazing. I can get competitive and want to rush to complete something for the sake of completing it and that would miss the point. The goal wasn’t just to check it off but to really listen and absorb as much scripture as possible for my own soul’s health, not just to do it. So if I started zoning off, I’d restart as much as I needed to so that I was taking it all in. If I wasn’t understanding something, I’d start praying for the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to understand it. If I fell asleep listening, I’d pray that it would still bring nourishment to my soul. Jesus is the bread of life and the living water, so even if I don’t remember it all, I believe His Word is still nourishing my spiritual body much like food and water nourish my physical body, even if I can’t remember what I ate yesterday. 

I’ve made it through to Colossians so far and something that I’ve found is that the more I ingest the Bible at a higher amount than I normally do, the more I crave it and look forward to it. My heart and soul are more tender and I literally can’t speak about Jesus without crying all week. I feel the impact deeply. 

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The more my eyes are on Him, the more my prayer is this:

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” 

Psalm 119:37