This week I finished reading through the Bible for the thirty-second time. Exactly half the years of my life I’ve read the Bible cover to cover. Hard for me to believe, but a little effort compounded over a long time brings good outcomes. I’ve noticed that somewhere along the way my Bible moved from a religious text to a trusted friend.

A lot has happened since I started this discipline. Over the 40 or more years I’ve been seriously reading and studying my Bible, I’ve watched wars start and finish, only to start again elsewhere. Political wrangling has grown nastier, metastasizing into its current form. Our society’s perspective on morals, never Puritanical in my lifetime, drifted further from shore. Religious persecutions continue unabated in many parts of our world. Personally, I’ve grown older (and maybe wiser), have lost people I loved and gained new ones to love as well.

Though all the changes, this one habit grounds me. When I started this journey, I read where Jesus said to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Now, all these years later, Jesus says the exact same thing.

The Scriptures form a lens through which I attempt to view the world. How does a certain perspective on wealth or gender or sexuality or politics stack up against Biblical values? Some issues remain cloudy, but I start from the Bible and move outward, rather than band-aiding a verse on ever-shifting opinions.

I draw comfort from reading God’s promises over and over. I write verses in my journal that I return to often. Here’s a favorite: The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

A good friend brings stability, and the Scriptures do just that. Everything around me alters and reorganizes, but God never shifts. King David wrote about how the Lord set his feet upon a rock, and made his steps secure. That rock still exists. It sits in plain sight. Take up the Good Book and read. Over time it will become a good friend, one who sticks with you for the rest of your life.

Matthew 22:37-39; Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 40:2

Photo by Nathan Dumlao