The 40-Day Bible Challenge With a FREE Downloadable Reading Guide

I've fallen in love with Lent. For me, it's more than a set of dates on the church calendar — it's a season to passionately pursue God and live wide-eyed to the wonder of who He is.

For me, Lent is the time of year when I tug on Papa's sleeve and say, "I want more, more, more of you!"

Hungry. Persistent. Expectant.

I don't stumble into Lent without much thought and prayer. With Easter's arrival, I begin prayerfully considering how to approach Lent the following year. I pray, "God, what are you calling me to?", "God, how can I set aside this time to seek you?", "God, where are you calling me to transformation — to become more like you?"

Years past have anchored me to the Gospels, abbreviated my prayer life with startling results, and challenge the way I respond to others.

As I've prayed this year, I've sensed the need to dive back into the Scriptures anew. As I've asked God what to read — Gospels, Epistles, Psalms, Prophets, Wisdom Literature, or Pentateuch — I've had this sense that I'm supposed to read "The Book."

Gulp.

Not a smidgen or section or style of Biblical. But. The. Whole. Entire. Book.

In 40 Days. That's forty. F-o-r-t-y. 4-0. Days.

I've read the Bible in a year. I know people who have read the Bible in 90 days. And I've heard sparkling testimonies of those who have read the Bible cover to cover in a handful of days resulting in them becoming Christians.

A quick search on Google reveals that many have read the Bible in 40 days before. That's doubly Good News, because it means it can be done.

The Bible contains 1189 chapters. That means reading the Bible in 40 days, requires reading about 30 chapters per day. And if you have a commute, errands, and like to take a walk each day, you can listen to an audio version of the Bible. About 45 minutes of Bible listening a day for forty days and you'll have covered the whole Scripture!

It's a lot. I know. And I'm quite confident I'll have days where it feels more like skimming, where my eyes glaze over, where I wonder, "What have I gotten myself into?"

But I know that other days wait when the timeless truths of Scripture will come alive in a whole new way. When the beauty of God's word will captivate me anew. When glimpses of God's character will leave me breathless. When in a book or a passage or a single word, I will find myself wonderstruck.

Will you prayerfully consider joining me in a wild adventure of reading the Bible in 40 days this Lent?

And even if you don't read the whole Bible, will you commit to plunge into the Gospels, explore the wisdom literature, study the Torah, or simply read the red words of Christ?

Will you commit that no matter what you give up for Lent that you will also lay hold of the wonders of God's Word? Invite your friends to join you!

Click here to download the free Wonderstruck by Scripture: 40 Day Bible Reading Guide.

Margaret Feinberg (www.margaretfeinberg.com) is author of the just released Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God, Scouting the Divine, and more. Follow her on Twitter @mafeinberg.