by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
Reading the word of God is a blessing. It should be a joy. However, there are 66 books in the Bible. There are 1,189 chapters, 31,102 verses and over 700,000 words. If you don’t like to read, and even if you do, reading the Bible can seem like an chore, one of those things that you have to do, but don’t really want to do.
If you want to enjoy reading the word of God then get that ‘have to’ out of your head. You ‘have to’ do the laundry even though doing the laundry is a chore. You also have to eat but eating rarely feels like a chore. Some days you get a bologna sandwich. Some days you get steak. Some days you eat at your desk and barely appreciate what went down your throat. Some days you savor every bite, beginning with the fresh salad and bread sticks, through the prime rib, and on to the chocolate fudge sundae for dessert.
Reading the word of God should be more like eating a meal. Whether it is a bologna sandwich, just a quick bite to sustain you, or a full steak dinner you don’t stuff the whole thing in you mouth, you eat in bite size chunks, you chew on it, and then you take time to digest the meal.
If your diet is important to you then you read the labels before you choose the ingredients of your meal. Choose your Bible just as carefully. There are many options and versions of the Bible. Some Bibles are huge and heavy; some are small with itty-bitty print. Pick one that is comfortable to hold and comfortable to read.
And chose a version that make sense when you read it. The King James Version is great for memorizing, the language is lyrical, but the language is also outdated, so while you may be familiar with “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” (KJV) you may want to choose a version that says, “Even though I walk through the valley…”(NIV)
Chew your food. Don’t try to stuff so much in your mouth at once that you choke. Don’t just read the words, in one eye and out the other; think about what you are reading. Ponder the words.
I am not a fan of trying to read the Bible in a year. You wind up reading four chapters a day and sometimes that is all you do. The goal is not to read the words. The goal is to listen to God and if you are rushing to complete your designated words per day you probably aren’t listening too well.
Four chapters is a lot, especially when you consider the fact that God can stuff a whole world of meaning into a single verse. If you skip over all that meaning because you have a word count and a deadline then you have missed a lot. If you miss a day or two then you wind up skimming 12 chapters just to keep up. If you only get through one chapter and all those other chapters start piling up on your to do list then you get discouraged.
No, I don’t like trying to read the Bible like I’m trying to win a race. I am a note taker and list maker. I am also a big fan of construction paper. I wrote the Ten Commandments out on typing paper and pasted them on gray construction paper cut in the shape of the stone tablets. I do a lot of projects like this as I read the Bible. It gives me time to ponder. I like that word – ponder – it means to consider carefully. That’s the biggest reason I don’t like four chapters a day reading lists, they don’t leave you time to ponder.
I do suggest having a list of the books of the Bible in alphabetical order. That way you can mark them off as you read them so that you don’t read Acts, three times and miss reading Habakkuk altogether. You do want to read the whole Bible, not just the same parts over and over.
If you are going to be eating at your desk it pays to pack your lunch. As you read there are verses that will jump out at you, verses that seem to speak to you personally. God does that a lot, he wrote the whole Bible with you in mind after all. Anyway, when you see one of those verses write it down on an index card and keep it with you. That way if you only have time to eat a quick meal, the meal is ready to be eaten. If you only have time to read one verse, make it a good one.
You should never be so busy that you do not have time for God, but some days are just busier than others. Emergencies happen, deadlines loom, things just take a lot longer to accomplish than you thought they would and time gets away from you. Even on your busiest day you will have at least one verse with you, and that one slice of the bread of life can more than sustain you, it can hold you up on your dreariest day, it can encourage you in your darkest hour, it can calm you down in the most frustrating or scariest situations. There is power in the word.
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
Nothing worthwhile ever is
- Wendy
If your diet is important to you then you read the labels before you choose the ingredients of your meal. Choose your Bible just as carefully. There are many options and versions of the Bible. Some Bibles are huge and heavy; some are small with itty-bitty print. Pick one that is comfortable to hold and comfortable to read.
And chose a version that make sense when you read it. The King James Version is great for memorizing, the language is lyrical, but the language is also outdated, so while you may be familiar with “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” (KJV) you may want to choose a version that says, “Even though I walk through the valley…”(NIV)
Chew your food. Don’t try to stuff so much in your mouth at once that you choke. Don’t just read the words, in one eye and out the other; think about what you are reading. Ponder the words.
I am not a fan of trying to read the Bible in a year. You wind up reading four chapters a day and sometimes that is all you do. The goal is not to read the words. The goal is to listen to God and if you are rushing to complete your designated words per day you probably aren’t listening too well.
Four chapters is a lot, especially when you consider the fact that God can stuff a whole world of meaning into a single verse. If you skip over all that meaning because you have a word count and a deadline then you have missed a lot. If you miss a day or two then you wind up skimming 12 chapters just to keep up. If you only get through one chapter and all those other chapters start piling up on your to do list then you get discouraged.
No, I don’t like trying to read the Bible like I’m trying to win a race. I am a note taker and list maker. I am also a big fan of construction paper. I wrote the Ten Commandments out on typing paper and pasted them on gray construction paper cut in the shape of the stone tablets. I do a lot of projects like this as I read the Bible. It gives me time to ponder. I like that word – ponder – it means to consider carefully. That’s the biggest reason I don’t like four chapters a day reading lists, they don’t leave you time to ponder.
I do suggest having a list of the books of the Bible in alphabetical order. That way you can mark them off as you read them so that you don’t read Acts, three times and miss reading Habakkuk altogether. You do want to read the whole Bible, not just the same parts over and over.
If you are going to be eating at your desk it pays to pack your lunch. As you read there are verses that will jump out at you, verses that seem to speak to you personally. God does that a lot, he wrote the whole Bible with you in mind after all. Anyway, when you see one of those verses write it down on an index card and keep it with you. That way if you only have time to eat a quick meal, the meal is ready to be eaten. If you only have time to read one verse, make it a good one.
You should never be so busy that you do not have time for God, but some days are just busier than others. Emergencies happen, deadlines loom, things just take a lot longer to accomplish than you thought they would and time gets away from you. Even on your busiest day you will have at least one verse with you, and that one slice of the bread of life can more than sustain you, it can hold you up on your dreariest day, it can encourage you in your darkest hour, it can calm you down in the most frustrating or scariest situations. There is power in the word.
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
Nothing worthwhile ever is
- Wendy
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