ep 12 - I Finally Did It: How I Read the Bible Cover to Cover on My 4th Try cover art

ep 12 - I Finally Did It: How I Read the Bible Cover to Cover on My 4th Try

ep 12 - I Finally Did It: How I Read the Bible Cover to Cover on My 4th Try

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 Y'all. I finally did it. On my fourth try, I read the entire Bible cover to cover — and I am not holding back the details. No intro, no fluff, just straight encouragement for anyone who has started (and stopped... and started again) on their own Bible in a year journey. If Leviticus has defeated you before, this one is for you. My Honest Journey to Getting Here Let's just be real about it: Attempt 1: Made it through Genesis, survived Exodus, crashed hard at Leviticus. Closed the book and walked away.Attempt 2: Knew Leviticus was coming, tried to prepare, made it maybe to Deuteronomy or 1 Chronicles — fell off again.Attempt 3: Got to Joshua, Judges, or Ruth (somewhere in there) and just... couldn't push through.Attempt 4: Finally did it. Cover to cover. Genesis through Revelation. And I've been a Christian for a very long time. So if you've felt embarrassed that you haven't finished it yet — you're in good company, and this episode is your sign to try again. Why You Need to Read It for Yourself In a world drowning in information nobody wants to actually sit down and read anymore. But here's why it matters for us as believers: 1. You have access — use it. There are believers around the world who can't even carry their Bible in public. Underground churches. Secret meetings. We don't have that persecution yet. So the fact that we have open, free access to Scripture? That's not something to take for granted. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) 2. It deepens your relationship with God in a way nothing else can. Reading through Leviticus made me so mad the first time. By the third time through, I started to see it differently — God's holiness demanding holiness from His people. The more you read, the more you understand who God actually is. Think about how the FBI trains agents to spot counterfeit money: they don't study all the fakes. They study the real thing — every line, every marking, every detail — until they know it so well that anything fake is obvious. Scripture works the same way. 3. It is alive and it is transformative. Hebrews 4:12 — the Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. Everything I've ever wanted to grow in — being a better wife, a better mom, a better disciple — Scripture has been the tool God used to get me there. It does not return void. (Isaiah 55:11) Tips That Actually Got Me Through It 1. Use a guided study — specifically, The Bible Recap. Hosted by Tara-Leigh Cobble, The Bible Recap takes you through Scripture in chronological order, the way it was written and developed. At the end of each day's reading, Tara-Leigh recaps what you just read so you don't miss anything. I highly recommend starting with the intro video before you jump in — it sets the whole thing up and you'll want that context. (Link below!) 2. Don't feel like you have to catch everything. One of the things that kept tripping me up was the pressure to deep-dive every passage while also trying to get through the Bible in a year. Those are two different goals. When you're doing a read-through, you're building the foundation. The hermeneutics, the context, the deep study — that comes after. And here's the truth: even if it starts to feel like a checklist, the Word does not return void. If you catch one thing a day, your relationship with God is growing. Don't lie to yourself out of finishing. 3. Make it a non-negotiable — and get creative about when. For me, listening in the shower was the game-changer. I'd prop my phone up, read along while listening, and it kept me locked in. Find your version of that. Car rides. Folding laundry. The point is to make it happen daily, even if it's not in the most "ideal" setting. 4. Let the Old Testament do its job. The Old Testament is longer, and it can feel like a slow burn. But here's what I want you to know: by the time you get to the New Testament, you will feel it differently. All that time in the Old Testament builds this thirst, this foundation, so that when Jesus finally shows up — it just hits different. Everything clicks. Things you've read a hundred times suddenly connect in ways they never did before. The Moment That Started All of This Fun fact: it was actually during my fourth read-through — while listening to Exodus in the shower — that this podcast was born. I was listening to the Israelites complaining in the wilderness after everything God had already done for them, thinking how could they forget so fast — and the Holy Spirit stopped me cold. How often do you do the same thing? How often do we forget what God did last month because of what's hard right now? That question changed something in me — and out of it came In Case I Forget. The One Thing Read the book. Please. Basic instructions before leaving Earth. And if you're still unsure whether Scripture is reliable, inspired, and infallible, go back to Episode 8 where I ...
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