This reading through the Bible stuff is HARD. But SO COOL.

So I need to update so far on reading through the Bible in three months.

I'm a bit behind (today's date has me in about Nehemiah - I'm around the tail end of I Samuel). Getting there. And I still have a goal of being done by early May.

After talking to Ben tonight, who described reading through the Bible this fast as, "a blistering speed," I'm still musing at how much I've still gotten out of reading through the Bible at such a rapid pace.

1. The cool thing about reading through the Bible this fast, instead of a little study over three months, is exactly what it sounds like. I like to describe it like how Dr. Richmond sometimes describes things: "You get the whole pie." In this case, reading the Bible this has cast the taking of the Promised Land, the rebellion under the Judges/request for a king, and Israel as a nation pretty closely against the backdrop of creation, the Patriarchs, Exodus, and the Law. Reading the WHOLE Bible that fast gives you that, "JUST-READ for maximum freshness!" I'll be around the major prophets in a matter of weeks, the Gospels in April and the Mosaic Law was on the calendar about three weeks ago. Now THAT'S setting everything into context!

2. The Torah is FASCINATING. I loved it. I can't imagine being a boy "back in the good old days" of ancient Mesopotamia who would memorize the first five books of the Bible for his teachers by his bar mitzvah. Reading through them is lofty enough. That said, there's a lot of very interesting stuff in there. And the overarching themes I've noticed are,

• How people lived their lives and why actually MATTERED. It's so important.
  
• The Law gets repeated several times. I bet it matters.
  
• There's relevant content today, so this stuff is STILL worth knowing, even though we don't sacrifice cows, goats, sheep, and birds because of Jesus being the perfect sacrifice. It isn't wise to purposefully ignore this, and *I* think it's interesting.
  

3. Through some assistance from the notes in my study Bible, there were hints toward Jesus long before the major prophets, WAY at the beginning. It's left me speechless to read it again for myself (I haven't read some of this in TOO long). The prophets talked about Jesus coming too, but I love the little clues in the earliest books of the Bible.

One final note: after reading a few songs in the ESV, I'll confess: I'm SERIOUSLY getting geeked for Psalms. The composer in me might reawaken. :-)