The Good Days

     The last few months, I've been really good about reading my Bible almost every day.  I'm not saying this to receive a standing ovation or lots of pats on the back, but to share something I've learned.  The days I read the the good book are the good days.  When I don't read it, I generally have a "not-so-great" or "iffy" day.  People have been telling me my entire life that this is true, but for some reason (maybe I thought it would take too much time or be too boring) it just never caught on.  

    Recently: I didn't read my Bible either last Saturday or Sunday (bad bad bad idea) and I got really annoyed with one of my best friends that Saturday, shouted at and gave him the cold shoulder on Sunday, and had to suffer through two days of not-so-greatness, plus explanations and stuff on Monday.  I almost always get along with him otherwise; there were other reasons why I was irritated with him, but I should have been able to control my temper and I couldn't.  I think a big part of that was because I didn't start off my day the right way.  
     I think another reason why people don't read their Bible everyday is because they don't know what to read.  At the moment, I'm reading one chapter of the New Testament and two chapters of the Old Testament every morning before I get dressed for school, and skipping those parts of the Bible that I know I'll hit a sticking point on because I've read them so many times or they're hard to understand: Leviticus, Romans, the Gospels, Psalms, etc.  NOT that they aren't good to read, it's just my goal to read the rest of the Bible, and if I don't skip those I'm more likely to not get through it all.  Joshua and Nehemiah and Esther were fascinating stories.  Whoever said the Bible didn't hold adventure.  
     I encourage everyone to read the Bible regularly.  God speaks to us through His word (real life example: I was baptized on Sunday, and a leader in the church shared 1 Timothy 4:12 with me.  Guess what I was reading that day?  Yup, 1 Timothy 4) and digging into His word means we're digging deeper into Him.  Even if it takes 30 minutes a day (it only takes me 15 minutes) those are 30 minutes which are well spent.  So decide what you'll read and start digging!