The best-selling least-read book of all time

According to one article, the Bible takes first place on the "Best-Selling Books of All Time" list.

Coming in at #1: The Bible: 2.5 billion sold.

Coming in at a distant #2: "(Quotations from Chairman Mao) (the Little Red Book)": 800 million sold.

As stimulating as a chapter in Quotations from Chairman Mao sounds, I'll stick with Quotations From God (a.k.a. The Bible).

Unfortunately, the number of people who have purchased one does not reflect how many people read it or apply it. I wonder what this world would be like if that many people read and applied it to their daily lives!

So here's the challenge: in 2010, read the whole Bible all the way through. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God. ALL of it. That's right, even Leviticus and Numbers. There's a reason for it all and it is ALL profitable for us in its own special way. I'll be teaching tomorrow night on just those two verses: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as we gear up to roll into the new year. We'll learn all about the Bible: how we got it and what it's for - should be fun.

The Bible contains 1,189 chapters and 31,103 verses. Sound like a lot, doesn't it? Let's break it down.

It's said that to read the entire Bible from cover to cover at "pulpit speed" (out loud reading speed) takes about 72 hours. Which means if you spread that out over 1 year, all you have to do is read 11.8 minutes every day and by December 31, 2010, you'll be finishing up Revelation 22!

12 minutes a day? That's NOTHING!
You could afford
12 less minutes of sleep,
12 less minutes of TV,
12 less minutes of the latest bloody shoot-each-other video game,
12 less minutes of knitting/croquet lessons/FaceBook/researching the life-cycles of snapping turtles...


It's really that simple. I pray this becomes a yearly thing. By the time we're all old and gray, maybe we'll have read the Bible through 10, 20, 40, 75 times!

Reading schedules are available on the resource table at Awaken or you can download them HERE. They're nothing special and you may have something cooler in your Bible or on your iPhone. This is just one option that we hope some find helpful.

So who's in for the challenge? 
Have you ever read the Bible all the way through? How many times?

January 1 is coming quickly, so gear up.