I’m thankful you made a resolution to read your Bible this year – and I’m especially thankful you’re staying with it! God wants to transform our lives, and one of His main tools is His Word, the Bible.

Yes, the Old Testament can be confusing (and even intimidating) if you aren’t familiar with the Bible. But God has many truths to teach us through it, including truths about Himself and truths about our lives. For example, many of the detailed laws you’ve discovered in the early books of the Bible no longer apply to us today; they were only meant to govern God’s people before Christ came into the world. But behind them is a very important (and unchanging) truth: God is holy and pure, and He wants us to be also. The Bible says, “Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15).

But the Old Testament is important for another reason: It points us to Jesus Christ. For centuries God’s people yearned for the promised Savior – and now He has come! Every sacrifice in the Old Testament looked forward to Christ’s final sacrifice for our salvation. Is your faith and hope in Him?

As a footnote, I suggest you turn now to the New Testament for your reading (such as John, or one of the other Gospels). God’s plans for us are centered in Jesus Christ, and once we know Him, the rest of the Bible will fall into place.