Reading the Bible is a discipline.

Not as in you’re-in-trouble discipline, but a daily routine that needs to be enforced if you’re actually going to DO it.

In January 2009, I decided on a whim– really, at the very last minute– to join an online group that was tweeting using the #B90Days hashtag on Twitter. I thought they were crazy.

I criticized and told several that there was no WAY they could read the Bible that fast.

And then that first day they began reading, I found myself starting with them. It was not easy. Sometimes I wanted to quit. I consistently got behind nearly every weekend because I work. I joined their Twitter chat every Monday, asked questions and tried to keep up with the stream. Motivation poured into me from hundreds of women all doing the same thing I was doing.

And I finished in 88 days. It was exhilarating! It was amazing! It was so neat to actually know what the pastor was talking about when he referenced Old Testament people, situations, or traditions.

It clicked for me.

The Bible, in its entirety, is actually NEEDED to be able to understand this Christian life. Imagine that– we NEED God’s Word to understand how he wants us to live? You’re darn right we do. Even the Old Testament. All of those old traditions and the Laws and every little tiny detail that the Lord thought was so important that they are described, multiple times, down to the finely twisted threads in the tapestry.

Because God cares about every little, tiny, seemingly insignificant detail.

It has become my yearly commitment: To begin each new year with a fresh reading through the Bible. I started the B90 plan again this last week, on January 1st. Already He’s showing me things I didn’t notice the last three times I did it. Already He’s speaking to me, teaching me new truths from the old truths within the covers of the oldest book.

If you’ve never read the entire Bible, I encourage you to try this. It won’t be easy but I promise you it will be worth it!

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This is my third time going through the Bible in 90 days. Always it is a journey, although at times it can feel like a sprint. The journey brings up so many things in my heart and my mind.

Redemption.

Faith.

The cycle of life.

Provision.

Mercy.

And yet I am constantly troubled by two verses. They disturb me and cause me to think deeply, and yet I still don’t exactly know what to think about them.

One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked. Mark 14:51-52

I have asked people much more scholarly than me about this young man. No one can tell me who he is. What the linen shirt means. Why the mob grabbed him. Why he ran. I can only guess, based on what I do know.

He wasn’t one of the Twelve, but he was a Christ follower. He was such a Christ follower that he was present when Christ was taken. When the disciples scattered, so did he. He wore linen. Linen was a common material for clothing to be made from, but in the Bible linen also indicated purity and being set apart, as in the priests in the days of the Tabernacle.

He was so desperate to get away that he escaped with nothing but his skin. I think what disturbs me most about this is that our human nature is so much like this man.

We LOVE to follow Christ. To walk as close to him as possible. To be there to see his wonders, feel his Spirit, be a witness to everything that he is doing in our lives and the lives of others. The change comes when it gets hard. When conflict arises, we stand firm with Christ… until the situation gets really hot, only to disappear until things cool down. To run away naked.

I don’t want to be that naked person, fleeing for my life with nothing. Lord, let your Spirit always be with me, and my faith be a garment around me. Always.