Each year, I try to read through the whole Bible – from Genesis to Revelation. Here are a few things I learned while reading through the Bible this year:

• Read the Bible to develop your relationship with Jesus, not just to learn more facts. – Partway through the year, I heard a string of sermons about reading the Bible. This helped adjust my perspective on reading God’s Word, and reminded me to ask God to reveal Himself to me in a new way each time I read or listened to the Bible. Yes, I was learning facts and reading new stories, but the most important reason for reading was to build my relationship with Jesus.

• The Word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12) – As I’ve worked through a Bible reading plan, it’s amazing to see how God makes the selection of chapters from that day apply to what’s happening in my life. For example, one week I was thinking about praise and wondering how else I could say thank you to God. I “happened” to get to a section of Psalms full of people expressing their praise to God. This gave me more words to express my own praise.

• Pray that people will know that God is the Lord. – In prophecies about Israel or other nations, God would judge or save “so they may know [He] is the Lord” (see Ex. 7:17, Eze. 11:12). Also, people prayed for God to act, not for their own sake, but so other nations would see God as powerful (see Dan. 9:17). Even today, God is working so that people will repent and believe in Him (see 2 Peter 3:9). I can pray that people will know and act like Jesus is Lord.

Life Lesson: Keep reading God’s Word (the Bible).