Hello @michaelvpardo,At my first reading I just wanted to know more about Jesus and because I loved to hear what Jesus said and did from the gospel readings at Catholic masses. I sincerely wanted to be like Him, but didn't know how to be anything but me. I wasn't even conscious of my sin. So I read, understanding some, seeing Jesus in the psalms, wonderfully in Isaiah, but not clearly or even dimly in many of the books. I loved reading through the actual gospels, but Paul confused me. While still in the gospels I started applying the word hypocrite to the nuns and priests of our parish, and mom promptly took away that copy of the King James version that I was reading through ( and it was taking a number of years). I was very upset by this and pop came to the rescue, privately handing me his pocket copy of the New Testament and psalms that he'd gotten from a chaplain during WW II. I was consequently able to finish my first reading with the same version, but abridged. My second reading was with a Gideon's bible and I was shocked to find LORD replaced by Jehovah and other striking differences to me, and I don't recall if I even finished reading the whole bible. As yet I hadn't known that there were different translations nor did I know that the different books were written at different times. I thought that there was just one author, God.
Quite a few years later my cousin Tony showed me a paperback copy of the Jerusalem Bible which had even more books in it. It was being used in a college class examining scripture as literature (I think) and since it was a modern translation without a lot of archaic language, I purchased a copy and it had notes about various rabbinical ages and made claims attributing authorship to Elohists, and Yahwists, and just about anyone other than Moses for the books of the law. I remember reading one verse in the apocrypha that made my hand spasm so I literally tore the page (I believe it was about Solomon whom I admired for his wisdom and wealth). I continued to read sporadically from that same version for many years, but purchased an inexpensive King James Version to bring with me to work, so I could read when I had time and discuss with a coworker named Jerome, who was definitely born again and gave me satisfactory answers to all my questions and eventually prayed with me to receive Christ. I can't remember the date, but I'll never forget the day and I'll always be grateful to Jerome for his faithfulness. He confessed later that often when I questioned him, he hadn't known the answers beforehand, but they came to him in the moment and we were both blessed by the conversations. He'd been raised as a Jehovah's witness, but searched and dabbled with cults and the occult before hearing the gospel and believing it. In that we had similar experiences and had more than a few laughs over the foolishness of our early days.
I've really wandered off into testimony and reminiscence, but after I received the Lord by faith, I went back to reading from cover to cover for three years, just looking for Jesus in the Old testament and refreshing my mind in grace in the new. Jesus rebuked the scribes and pharisees saying that they thought that they would find eternal life in the scriptures, but that the scriptures testified of Him (and they didn't have the rest of the book yet).
It was wonderful reading passages and seeing Jesus in them for the first time, and the Lord kept showing me more and more. I also listened to Christian radio on a local station and learned to discern sound from unsound doctrine, but bought into at least one contrived doctrine because the teachers were good scholars and usually didn't raise any red flags in my mind.
I don't understand everything and probably wouldn't bother reading scripture anymore if I did, but what a joy it is to be taught by God and have fellowship in His word.
I do find greater joy in doing His works and that is solid food indeed, but life took a bad turn when my wife took offense at my life and turned to others for company and comfort. It had to be, because the Lord let Satan test the testimony of my baptism and though painful, He remains as promised and I love Him all the more.
Thank you so much for sharing your testimony with me. What comes across is the greatness and wonder of the Love and grace of God, and the sureness of His Word to us. How blessed we have both been to have been given the grace to believe, and the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. How great is our God! How wonderful His ways! How sure His promises! How mighty the power that He has towards us who believe: like unto the power by which He raised His only begotten Son from the dead, and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies; and we 'in Him'.
May His Name be praised!
In Christ Jesus
Chris