Loving This New Bible Study

A Beautiful Year in the Bible: The 52-Week Bible Study for Women (from Alabaster)

This Bible study is designed in such a way that when you finish it, you will have read through the Bible. It is not dated. You can take as long as you like. But it is organized by 52 topics, not by chronology or sequence. Each week begins with a direction to read a relevant passage in your own Bible, a brief thought about the topic, and then a list of Bible passages (from Old and New Testaments) to read each day of that week. After Day 1 of each week, the only “task” to complete each of the other 6 days, is to read a passage of Scripture. No homework, no reading of other people’s thoughts with each passage. Just reading the Bible.

So far, I love it. I am using a new Bible (CSB) and am enjoying using a highlighter as I read the passage each day. It’s so refreshing to just read the Bible (passages on that week’s topic).

I am in Week 3, New Beginnings, and the focal passage this week is Romans 5-6. (I am thinking about the dramatic new beginning in Paul’s own personal life.)

I am intrigued by these thoughts, quoted from today’s Day 1 devotional:

“‘Just as Christ was raised from the dead […] so we too might walk in newness of life.’ (Romans 6:4) This is a declaration that what might appear irreparably broken or too far gone can be transformed by God into something new, whole, and beautiful. Every aspect of our narrative can be refashioned by God into something new. Here, kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending breaks in pottery with gold, emerges as a poignant metaphor. Our past remain a part of us, much like the crack lines remain visible in the mended pottery. But God, the divine artisan, reshapes our fractured past into a future filled with promise. In kintsugi, the gold-filled cracks of restored pottery don’t just repair; they create new and previously nonexistent beauty. Likewise, through Christ, we are recreated—the grace and resurrection power of Jesus continually mend the places where we are chipped and cracked… Even paths marred by trials and mistakes are being transformed into landscapes of beauty and purpose. Amen.”

I absolutely love the kintsugi metaphor!

I will add this: This wonderful new beginning is made possible through Christ; however, it is up to the individual to accept this offer and personally experience His miraculous transforming power!

#NewBeginnings #ABeautifulYearintheBible #Alabaster #kintsugi #JustReadingtheWord