Bible Be-Reading
Thank you for all you do! Every time I try to read the Bible I get all bogged down by the task of it, overwhelmed by the size of it. How would you recommend approaching this? Would you go slowly and thoroughly or quickly? Would you use a schedule? Would you use aids to help in understanding? I always start strong but end up fizzing out. Thanks for your help!
D
Great question! Actually I have exactly the same problem as you. There are a number of ways to tackle this. Probably the first place to start is what you already have in place in your life as a Christian: the Church’s calendar and lectionary. This doesn’t present a straight through Genesis-Revelation reading plan, but it helps us to see Scripture in light of its center Jesus Christ. Both the 3 year and the 1 year lectionary do this well and pick out many of the highlights. A good book, Ordering Our Days In His Peace by Rev. Heath Curtis on this is available from CPH. Along the same lines is a resource such as the Treasury of Daily Prayer
While one can adopt a “read the Bible in 90 days, 1 year, or 2 years” type plan (the Lutheran Study Bible has a schedule such as this in the front), I personally struggle with this due to my own lack of discipline. Instead I have found it works even better for me to tackle things in smaller chunks. Read a Psalm or two a day (and pray it) and then focus on one book, or even a small portion of a book. In fact, I once spent 6 months reading Malachi. I didn’t simply read through it once, but re-read it several times. I’ve done the same thing with the Gospels, rather than chopping them up into chapters, it’s great to hear each Gospel writer tell the story of Jesus all at once. This may take about 3 hours or so total for the longer Gospels, but you really begin to see the bigger picture.
Do know this, the study of God’s Word is a life long endeavor. If a challenge such as “read the whole Bible” seems too overwhelming, take it in smaller bites and concern yourself with the Word of God set before you this day. Luther’s last words scribbled on a piece of paper can be of great comfort:
1. No one can understand Vergil’s Bucolics unless he has been a shepherd for five years. No one can understand Vergil’s Georgics, unless he has been a farmer for five years.
2. No one can understand Cicero’s Letters (or so I teach), unless he has busied himself in the affairs of some prominent state for twenty years.
3. Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles. Do not assail this divine Aeneid; nay, rather prostrate revere the ground that it treads.
We are beggars: this is true.
Matthew Lorfeld, Pastor
Messiah Lutheran Church
La Crescent, MN
http://www.messiahlacrescent.org
