Klaar met Cover-to-Cover

"Ik ben de alfa en de omega, de eerste en de laatste, het begin en het einde." (Openbaring 22:13)

I love the way that the Bible ends in the same way that it begins -- with the power of the Creator's interaction with Creation, beautiful bookends on either end of God's eternal story. "The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending..." My respect for God and the Bible only deepens with each reading.

After a year of commitment, I have finally finished Zolder50's "Cover-to-Cover" reading plan -- systematically digesting the Bible in its entirety over 365 daily readings. Somehow, I actually managed to complete the reading entirely through using the Nieuwe Bijbel Vertaling (Dutch translation of the ancient scriptures, initially published in late 2004), and I'm so glad that I did it. I feel a true sense of accomplishment and enlightenment from the process.

Reading the text in Dutch brought its share of challenges for me (a native English speaker), but it also brought several advantages -- and I would recommend such an attempt by anyone who might be in a position to give it a try. Of course, my Dutch reading skills improved dramatically throughout the course of the year as a result of following the Cover-to-Cover plan in the NBV. Furthermore, I feel like I was able to get a fresh look at familiar passages and consequently learn new lessons for my life. I feel like my understanding of the Bible and its depth of meaning for my life and for the world at large broadened immeasurably through the experience.

If you've never tried reading through the Bible before, I would highly recommend it. On an artistic level, on an intellectual level, on a heart level, and on a spiritual level, there is simply no other work of literature that can remotely compare to the living Word of God.