CONFESSIONS OF A BIBLE READER

Remember the whole Bible reading plan I started on January 1st this year? Check out that post here👉 https://julianaofjehovah.wixsite.com/website-1/post/new-year-new-me-i-m-serious-this-is-for-real-featuring-duolingo-and-youversion. This is an update on my progress and some lessons I have learnt. Don't ask me about Duolingo because I shamelessly quit that app many moons ago😭. 

Thankfully I was able to show up everyday to do the Bible plan. I hope this one makes up for my Duolingo disaster.

Someone may be wondering, "why a whole Bible reading plan?"

Finishing the whole Bible is not a ticket to heaven neither does it make you more christian than anyone. I can read my Bible cover to cover every month and still be living in sin.

It can also be a performative act of self righteousness not built on a desire to know God but to prove a point to others.

The latter, an all too common temptation for people who tread this path, one that I fell victim to.

Nevertheless, as people who want to know God well, I believe this is something we should all try to do. When a student wants to do well in an area of study, they make it a point to finish reading the textbook the lecturer provided. As students of this life, we need the Creator's wisdom to navigate it -this wisdom encapsulated in the Bible.

So back to my story, showing up everyday for Genesis was not hard. Genesis is like a really good novel lol. There are so many interesting character arcs and plots to keep me entertained. And let me slide this in here, I was reading not studying (there's a fundamental difference between the two). The ride through Genesis and Exodus was breezy, it got a little difficult with all the repetitions and laws in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 

For most part, it was going well, until somewhere along the line when I started missing some days because life happened, and that's not even the most dangerous part.

I would log into my Bible app and this automatically marks my attendance and maintains my streak then I would log out without doing the plan for the day. I needed to keep that streak alive even if it meant not actually reading it that day. I would get back to reading it though but on some other day. It became less about God and more about maintaining a streak. I dreamt of sharing my streak progress on 31st December flaunting my 365 day Bible streak to all, ahhh the joy I felt.

Yes, go ahead and judge me, you little pharisee 😭. I must confess that this wasn't a regular occurrence (not that it helps but maybe that can cover my shame a little).

All this while, it was as if the Lord had been chuckling to himself everytime I did that. Shaking His head and saying, “look at this girl oo”. 

One fateful Sunday, I genuinely forgot to do the plan. I don't know if my mind was playing tricks on me but I remember logging into the app at about 8pm just to mark attendance like I usually do, I probably I didn't wait for the app to fully open, I guess. The next day, I diligently read the plan for that day and the Sunday one oblivious of any changes until Tuesday morning. Same routine I logged into the app, read the plan for the day and came back to the homepage. Lo and behold, my perfect over 265 day streak had vanished and had been replaced by the single number "2".

This has to be a glitch, a technical mishap, a software problem because how????

Or has my sight gone bad?

I didn't go to the bathroom to wash my face for better vision ( I'm not that dramatic) but I remember randomly checking the app to see whether the number had changed and to my dismay, it didn't.

How it started

Going well

Rude awakening😭

In the first few moments, I was shocked and surprised. Should I cry? Should I get angry?Then it changed to laughter. Laughter because I kind of deserved that, my intentions had become contaminated. I 100% believe that the Lord saw the pride bubbling in my heart like CO2 on coca cola and decided that the only way to strip me of this feeling was to make me lose that streak. 

As I write this on the 1st of November, 2025, I'm at day 41. A lower streak but a more yielded heart.

Losing my streak reminded me of why I started. I wanted to read the Bible for reading's sake, I wasn't looking for any accolade or deep revelation. I was not comparing Greek and Hebrew texts, I just wanted to fall in love with the beauty of the Bible over again. 

There's a place for Bible study, where the reader delves into that Bible on a deeper level, taking into consideration the context, the language, the actual intent of the writer etc. Reading however, is to familiarize yourself with the text. Whoever studies must first read. Repetitive reading also helps with memorization.

Yours doesn't have to be a chronological reading plan like mine. It can be trying to finish a book of the Bible or a chapter of of a book. If every word of the Bible is inspired, then we should at least have a good recall of it and that can only happen if we make it a point to expose ourselves to Biblical knowledge everyday.

God has been kind, as much as I can, I try to read every morning but there have been many days when that was not possible. But He has always reminded me about the reading plan even at the eleventh hour (literally, there was a time I remembered to do the plan at 11pm). I believe that when it comes to things like this, His strengthening power is immeasurable. You might be the most inconsistent person alive but grace is available. The goal is to get back to it no matter how many times you forget.

In commemoration of November  being the Global Bible Month on the Youversion Bible App, you can finish a 30 day Bible plan and receive a little e-medal at the end of the month for you hardwork and consistency.

Remember the goal is not a medal that rust and moth can corrupt but knowing that as we expose ourselves to the Word, our minds are being renewed and we have the hope obtaining an indestructible crown of life.

Romans 12:2 NIV

[2] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.