Saying “Goodbye”
On January 1, my Bible open to Genesis chapter 1, I started the journey through the Bible using the “Our Daily Bread” reading schedule. If all goes as planned, I’ll finish Malachi and Revelation on December 31. It isn’t as if this is the first time I’ve done this. I suppose that had I counted, this has been done approximately 30 times or more in my 52 years of being a Christian.
For some reason, this year has been different. Now, it seems as if Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Caleb, Joshua, and an assortment of ladies, are friends. I really hated saying goodbye to Moses. To ease my loneliness I designed a simple outline of his life, and am using it as a theme for my regular Thursday morning Bible study group. It just happened to fall into place that this week, we will study the Passover. How about that for timing! We are all Gentiles in the group, but it does us well to respect the Jewish Passover.
This morning I said “Goodbye” to Joshua. In personality I found Joshua full of tough love. Most mornings I listen to the Bible and read simultaneously. Bible Gateway allows me to choose the dramatized version. Maybe they influenced me as I hear the reader depict Joshua’s voice as thunderous. Even in his departing speech in chapter 24 there is the hint of military leadership, yet tempered with love and a tinge of gentleness. The introduction to his farewell address is a history lesson.
Moses will continue to pop up in narrative; Joshua, not so much. I hated saying goodbye to him this morning. Now, I will move unto the judges and get to know them better.
When Moses passed the baton of leadership to Joshua he challenged him: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. . .” (Joshua 1:8). How very difficult it must have been for Joshua to say “Goodbye” to his mentor.
If you are not reading your Bible through, I challenge you to do so. Just start today and end on March 26 next year. It is never too late to start. Most of the time I have read my Bible through from birthday to birthday instead of the calendar year. It doesn’t matter; just do it.
- Posted in: Bible Inspire; nuggets of truth.
- Tagged: Bible reading schedule, Joshua, Joshua 1:8, Joshua's farewell address, Moses
The Shepherd's Presence 
I know you can do it and every time you read it through it will open something new to you. I know it has for me and I have read it through several times. God bless and have a blessed day.
I emphatically agree with you!!! I also have read the Bible through numerous times, and have no idea how many, but I find new treasures each time! I sometimes wish that I could warn some of them that they are about to do something that will grieve their Heavenly Father, but then, I grieve him often myself, and I have all these examples to follow that SHOULD keep me on track. I have never thought about saying “Goodbye” to certain people, but you are right about leaving Joshua after his journey was complete. He was a man of such strong faith that we all could use his life as a pattern for our own. Thank you for giving us this perspective, and I’ll pay more attention as I say farewell to these people the next time.
Well, that third sentence was a bit ambiguous….I should say that I wish I could warn some of the PEOPLE when they are about to go against God’s will…. My brain gets ahead of my fingers sometimes!
THANK YOU for urging us back to the Bible! I’ve been reading it since Bible School in my teens; Jerry and I read through it every year but I really, really didn’t want to drag my way from Leviticus on this year. It seemed so heavy and dreary! Then our current house mate got so excited about The One-Year Bible FOR NEW BELIEVERS (New Living Translation) that she started a discussion time on it once a week, got her church to buy copies for their members to buy and has been offering free copies to anyone who will promise to read it–friends, relatives, shopkeepers, even strangers at bus stops, anyone!
I bought a copy and started reading it sometime last month and it has transformed my understanding of the Old Testament! One reading in OT, one reading in NT, one psalm (or portion), one portion of Proverbs. The breaks are not chapter breaks but “sense” breaks and there are brief introductions so you understand the context of what you’re about to read and short devotionals on something you’re reading that day. It’s somewhat paraphrased when things would not otherwise be clear to us gentiles. But the Bible has come alive for me! I look forward to starting the day with the Lord in His word and find it opens up so much to think, meditate on and pray about!
Some of those thoughts and meditations will be showing up on hiddeninjesus.wordpress.com!
I’ll be looking forward to your nuggets of truth. I recently added that category to my expanding blog.
“Now, I will move unto the judges and get to know them better.” Love this post, Karyl. Made me think about how often I’ve read through the Bible, and how many times it took before some of these characters assumed real, human proportions and personality. And it never grows old or stale. Fresh honey, every day.