Joni: Hi, friend, I’m Joni with my all-time favorite guest on “Joni and Friends.” It’s my husband; welcome to the microphone, Ken
Ken: Thank you, Joni. It’s always great to be with you.
Joni: Absolutely! And you know I love this chance for our listeners to get to know you a little bit better and there’s a special reason I’m glad you’re here today, Ken, because we are quickly coming up on finishing …
Ken: … Our eighth anniversary of reading the Bible through in a Year!
Joni: I know – eight years! How did this all get started? I can’t remember the details.
Ken: Well, you know my best friend, Pete, was going on vacation and he was the one that had actually gotten me to read the Bible through the year before.
Joni: I remember watching you when you and Pete were talking on the phone and then I’d see you with the Bible and you’d have your glasses and you’d be reading and I remember thinking: Man, he’s reading the Bible with his best friend. I wish he’d read the Bible through the year with me.
Ken: Well, what happened was Pete was gone and I thought: Well, maybe Joni would like to read the Bible with me!
Joni: I remember when you asked me I was so overwhelmed and blown away! I tried to be very cool: Of course, Ken, I would love to read the Bible through in a year with you. But I was so over the top!
Ken: But those first years we were reading the Bible—remember Joni, the Old Testament and New Testament—and just recently in the last three years we have been reading it chronologically which has been a lot more fun for both of us.
Joni: What do you most enjoy about the chronological part of reading through the Bible?
Ken: Well, I think it reads more in terms of a story. It gives us an opportunity to follow along in a way that makes a lot more sense.
Joni: Yes. What God did with His people this time, the next time, and how that fits into the next occurrence in Scripture.
Ken: Right. And that’s not just one book, it’s several books but they are all in the same period of time.
Joni: Well, eight years of reading through the Bible together. I remember when I was battling cancer three years ago, you just stepped up to the plate; you were awesome; you were such a good advocate. And I remember saying to a friend, “You know, a lot of people must be praying for my husband,” to which my friend replied, “I think Ken is strong in this because he has been reading through the Bible.”
She credited it all to the Word of God.
Ken: Oh, I agree. There is power in the Word of God. And it takes a little bit of an effort, but you know what, it’s worth it.
Joni: You know, reading through the Bible (this will be our eighth year) helps us see how things fit and how they flow together. We can understand God’s plan: how one obedience—or disobedience—leads to God’s decisions about the way he deals with his people. For me, Ken, I think one of the striking things about reading through the Bible this year was stumbling across Jonah chapter 2, verse 8, where it says, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Ken: Oh, yes. They are great reminders, aren’t they?
Joni: Absolutely! The Bible talks a lot about idols …
Ken: … And we all have idols.
Joni: Yes, we do. It could be the food channel, Fox News … It could be about a person you shouldn’t be thinking of; someone who is morally off limits. Maybe your idol could be a hobby like…
Ken: … fishing?
Joni: No, I don’t think fly-fishing is your idol.
Ken: I don’t think it is an idol either, but I am reminded because of Scripture not to make it an idol.
Joni: Well, when we cling to these kinds of things we are forfeiting the grace that could be ours, so that’s the big lesson that God has taught me.
Ken: He’s taught me that too.
Joni: So, Ken, it’s been an absolute joy reading through the Bible with you this past year, but a new year is about to start and friend, we would like you to join Ken and me in reading through the Bible in 2014. So go to my radio page today and download your reading schedule, tuck it into your Bible and let’s get started together on January the 1st. Again, that at joniandfriends.org. Right, Ken?
Ken: Right, Joni, and I’m looking forward to reading through the Bible with you—and our friends!
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376