Love for God’s Word
One of my favorite pastimes is listening to podcasts. I love that I can listen to them while I go about my daily life. I’m often listening to something while I’m in the grocery store, folding laundry, or going on a walk. I can even say that a podcast helped to lead a spiritual revival for me and a lot of the women I know.
Several years ago, I found myself in a dry spiritual season. I felt like I was going through the motions, but I was just not feeling super connected to the Word. Everything felt a bit repetitive to me. Then, I listened to one of my favorite podcasters (Jamie Ivey) interview a woman, Tara Leigh Cobble, about a new daily Bible reading podcast that she was starting. Tara Leigh talked about the Bible with such excitement and passion. It was contagious. I was intrigued about this idea of chronological Bible reading tied to a daily podcast that would recap the reading. This seemed like something that I could maybe do and incorporate into my life. I had started several “read the Bible in a year” plans before, but I always fizzled out somewhere around Judges. I decided that this would be what I would do to try to revitalize my Bible reading for the new year. The plan is called The Bible Recap.
In 2019, I completed The Bible Recap. I didn’t really tell a lot of people about it. There were days I got behind and had to play catch up, but I persevered, and my love and appreciation for God’s word grew like crazy. I saw more of Jesus in the Old Testament than ever before, and the big picture of God’s Gospel plan jumped off the pages to me. It was a beautiful thing.
“In 2019, I completed The Bible Recap. I didn’t really tell a lot of people about it. There were days I got behind and had to play catch up, but I persevered and my love and appreciation for God’s word grew like crazy.”
For 2020, at the prompting of a friend, I decided to invite other women to join me in following The Bible Recap plan. I made a simple social media post about it. I didn’t really expect many people to want to commit, but we soon had more than 100 ladies (and a couple of men) that committed to the plan and joined our Facebook group. There were some women from all over the country, but most of them were tied to my church. Some were brand new Christians, some were exploring Christianity, and some were seasoned believers. It was so fun and encouraging to hear these women talk about all they learned and how their love for God grew simply by reading God’s word.
For 2021, I decided that it would be great to read through the Bible again, but with a local small group. I also encouraged other people to do the same, and many of them did start their own groups. I invited about 10 ladies to do the plan and meet every other week for discussion. The Bible Recap launched small group discussion questions and a book format too that year, which helped to make facilitating the group easier. My group sometimes followed the questions, sometimes we chased rabbits when we stumbled on a tricky section, and sometimes our discussions led us to go deeper into what was happening in our own lives and how it all related. Some weeks I spent a lot of time preparing for our group meetings and finding the perfect questions, and if I’m being honest, other weeks, I showed up with my own journal and the Bible, and we just saw where it all took us. The amazing thing is that reading God’s word never comes up void. It was always amazing and valuable to hear the insights different people draw from reading the same passage.
It’s crazy for me to think about the number of people that have completed The Bible Recap plan and grown in their love for the Word in the past four years. People are hungry for the truth of God found in scripture. Over and over again, I’ve had people tell me how much it has blessed them and thanked me for sharing about it. They really have no reason to thank me. All I did was simply invite them to join me. The rest was between them and God.
“It’s crazy for me to think about the number of people that have completed The Bible Recap plan and grown in their love for the Word in the past four years. People are hungry for the truth of God found in scripture.”
Believe it or not, this is not a big commercial for The Bible Recap, although I will tell you that it’s a fabulous Bible reading plan that I highly recommend. But if you are like me, and always looking for a way to revitalize your spiritual life in the new year, I would encourage you with this for 2023:
Sometimes, the key to spiritual renewal is as simple as saturating yourself in God’s Word. Every time we read scripture, we can learn about God’s character and plan. It’s not about finding the perfect verse to match my current situation, but about me understanding who God is. It’s not about finding the next popular book or Bible study, it can just be you and your Bible.
Sometimes, we just need to throw out the invitation. Invite people to read the Bible with you. Invite people to pray with you for your school, town, or church. I know that sometimes I get intimidated thinking that I can’t invite people because I'm not the best speaker or teacher. I may not have the time to prepare or lead something. Or I think that no one will want to come. I make things more complicated than I need to. The first step is just to ask.
At the end of 2018 when I first heard Tara Leigh Cobble talk about The Bible Recap on that podcast, I had no idea all that would unfold in my life the next few years. I had no clue how much I would need to be saturated in God’s Word and how healing that would be for me during a time when it felt like all of life was turned upside down. I’m thankful for God’s Word that served as an anchor holding me safe and secure and offering hope. May it be the same for you as we look forward to 2023.
Melissa Busby leads the ministry wives support network for the BCNE and serves in the women’s, youth, and children’s ministries at South Shore Baptist Church in Hingham, MA, where her husband serves as senior pastor.
