Not Quite Finished

July 24, 2023

The idea was launched many years ago, sometime after the new millennial, while I was visiting the office of the manager of a guest house in Nairobi. There was a wonderful couple who voluntarily came out for a couple of years to manage the place. They did an amazing job while they were there, and were always gracious to Kate and I each time we came out of Sudan for a time of resting and restoring. Several times we had a meal with them in the very old, but very nice, home that was located on that property.

One day while there, I walked into Sid’s office to ask him a question or two about the storage of our excess goods down under the main building. He was engaged in writing something into a blank-page book. I noticed a Bible on his desk and assumed he was writing notes from the passage he was reading. Turns out my assumption was incorrect. What he was doing was copying the Bible, word for word, into the blank-paged book.

We then got into quite a conversation about how long it had taken him, why he was doing it, what he was learning, what he would do when he was finished, and a host of other questions. It really fascinated me and the thought entered my head that I should do the same one day. Well, it took several years before I embarked on that journey. Even today I can’t remember exactly when that was, but I do know that it was more that a dozen years ago. Probably close to fifteen years is my best guess. And it has been quite an adventure.

When I started out, I thought I would do this to leave my children something of value when I moved on to my new life with the Lord in heaven. Somewhere along the way I realized that God actually had planted that seed for me to learn more and more about Him. The number of times that I found myself writing out a chapter and discovered things I didn’t ever recall reading or seeing before, was numerous. And by the time of this excursion, I had literally read through the Bible multiple times over the years. What I realized, and research backs this up, is that when we read we usually skip many words and take in the overall meaning of what we are reading, as opposed to reading every single word.

It takes time, a lot of time, and a lot of focused attention, to write out 1200 pages of anything. But when your focus is on not only writing, but comprehending and listening to the Spirit while you are at it, well, it’s a whole different ballgame. There were multiple times that I had to stop and ponder what I was “seeing” for the first time. One short verse in Psalms engulfed me for two weeks or so. Over the past decade or so, my morning devotion time has been a unique journey of discovery, of renewed fellowship with the Lord, of questions that I have had to wrestle with, and coming to the realization that if I did this all over again I would still be amazed at what I missed the first hundred times I read a passage.

So here I am, in July of 2023, finally having completed this solemn journey and knowing how much God has revealed to me though it. So my wife has asked me, “What are you going to do now?” I actually do have a plan. It’s another procession with my Master, of discovering what He wants me to know about Him and how I should honor Him in this world. If His grace continues to shower me, and I’m still around a few years from now to write about it, I’ll type up another story and let you know how the journey has gone.