Last year, one of my resolutions was to read the Old Testament. My goal was to read the whole thing, but here’s the kicker: I was going to read one chapter a day, first in Hebrew, and then the same chapter in Greek.
Ha!
I’ve fallen pretty far short of my goal. Hitting the goal relied on my being able to spend a couple of extra hours every weekend reading, and that didn’t happen.
On the other hand, the one chapter a day did happen. So the photo here marks my position as of December 31 — just finished 1 Kings, with the story of Micaiah ben Imlah and the death of Ahaz. And now I’ve readjusted my goal: one year from now, I plan to be in the middle of Psalms in my reading, which means the entire thing will take me two and a half years (closer to three, once I’ve read the deuterocanonical books).
Takeaways:
1. The goal mattered. It gave me a target.
2. The daily chapter was essential. I gave myself no excuses, I read when I was sick and when I was traveling for work and every single day, no matter what.
3. It was a lot easier to get my chapter in if I could do it in the morning.
4. It got easier as I went.
5. Now I need to (re-)apply the same lessons to writing.
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