This is the last post in my series on reading the entire Bible. On Tuesday, I gave you a warning about finishing strong. Today, I’ll leave you with a challenge: REPEAT.

I used to think that reading the whole Bible was a one-time right-of-passage for Christians. It was kind of like: 1) Get saved (check). 2) Get baptized (check). 3) Read the Bible (check).

Perhaps you’ve already read the Bible once, but you’re having a hard time motivating yourself to read it again. The first time you were fueled by determination and passion and the excitement of discovering something new.  But the second time, it may be a little harder to manufacture that focus that you had before.

But, I urge you, if you truly want to get the Word of God rooted in you, THIS is where the roots start to go deep – by repeated reading of the Word of God.  By becoming familiar with it.  By knowing it.  By reading it over and over and over again.

My cousin told me that one of my great uncles read the Bible twelve times  the first year that he was retired!  Twelve times!  That’s the entire Bible one time every month!!  I was floored!

So, is twelve the magic number? Or five? Or fifteen times? How many times should you strive to read the Bible in your lifetime?  The answer is simpler than you think:

One More Time. 

No matter how many times you’ve read it before, I urge you to read it one more time.  If you’ve never read it or if you’ve read it twenty times, read it one more time.

Maybe you’ve been a Christian for a long time, and you feel way behind on your knowledge of the Bible. You wish you had started this journey years ago so you’d be further along by now. After all, they say that the best time to plant an apple tree is twenty years ago.

Don’t be discouraged. What is the second-best time to plant an apple tree?

Today.

Q: If you’ve read the Bible more than once, was it harder or easier the second (or third, etc.) time around?