The B-I-B-L-E

A few years ago, a counselor convinced me that I needed to begin a daily journal. I’ve kept it up for several years now. I have blogged about my “Love Letters to God” in my Prayer Box blog. Along with these love letters, I have completed some form of a daily devotion. The devotions seem to focus me for the day. Even though I’ve been doing this for sometime and on a daily basis, I am still missing something. The Bible.

I think I have often thought that getting my Bible content from the Sunday morning sermon or from the daily devotionals was all that I needed. The older I get, the more I realize I need more. I have this desire to study the word of God at a deeper level. I want to learn more and more and more.

There’s a praise and worship song called, “Set a Fire” written by Will Reagan. One line of the song says, “I want more of You God, I want more of You God.” That’s me. That’s where I am now in my walk. I just want to learn more and more. That song captures me perfectly.

I even have multiple Bibles too. I have my “church” Bible. You know what I mean. My Bible that I carry to church with me. It’s my study Bible. The one that I get in to read and write all over it, but probably don’t understand. It’s my New International Version Bible. I read it and then use the commentary at the bottom of the page to dig deeper and try to conceive of the teaching better.

Then, I have my reading Bible,The Message version. I like this version because it reads like poetry or a literary book. It flows and has rhythm. The thing I don’t like about it, is that there are no verse numbers. If you are trying to compare a verse out of another Bible version, there is no verse number reference. This means you have to read enough to find something close and then you can get your verse from that. It’s not an easy task, let me tell you!

I am at a place where I really need both of these. Sorry folks, I’m not an electronic reader. Don’t suggest that I get the Bible App! I want the paper in my hands. It’s not really even about the paper- I’m online everyday for hours. I want paper to unplug my mind from electronics. I know if I used the app I could have both at my fingertips and flip back and forth between them, but I want that tangible surface. I do need both of these Bibles, but guess what, I will still only use one! Why? Because I am lazy! I don’t want to read one Bible and then have to read the next one to help me grasp the chapter better. I keep telling myself that I am going to take the chapters that I read at night and in the morning during my quiet time read those same chapters in The Message. It hasn’t happened yet!

Maybe you feel like me- confused and boggled? Maybe you want to read your Bible, but don’t know where to start. I had been reading through the chapter of Psalm and just began to look for something else to wrap my brain around. In December, someone posted that if you read a chapter a day in Luke one can experience the life of Jesus and understand why he was born for us. I did that too. In January, I saw several posts on Facebook from people about a Chronological Bible Reading Plan. I began to research those too. I thought that might be a good place for me to start. Then, by magic, a reading plan appeared!

Pastor Andrew put one in our hands. YASSS!!!! That old move, The Dab, comes to mind here. I don’t Dab, but felt like it when Pastor Andrew announced that our church would have a Bible reading plan. We’re Quakers, so Dabbing would not be acceptable. Elated was how I felt. I finally had a starting place! Not that I understood everything I read, but I was able to start and stick with it. And, guess what?!

Now, I want to learn more!!! This started in December when I read that chapter in Luke. I became perplexed by the miracles that Jesus performed and the parables he told. I want to understand the parables deeper. I felt like the words in my Bible were hiding deeper meanings that Jesus was trying to convey, and somehow my feeble mind was missing it. Now I’ve read Romans, and I want to know more about Paul. I did a study a few years back on Right Now Media called “If.” It was based on Romans, so I had some foundation here, but now I want to understand Paul even more.

All of this is creating a Biblical monster. A monster of knowledge that is! I think I look forward to the days when churches can open fully again and we can have more activities like Bible studies. What’s really funny about this is that I have been an avid small grouper for years. I loved gathering with others to dig into a study. The studies were varied and related to themes instead of the Bible. I always wanted to grow as a Christian, but I shied away from The Bible. Hmm...that doesn’t compute. Maybe I was scared or intimidated by visions of the King James version of the Bible full of thee’s and thou’s! I’m not sure why I studied the Bible only through sermons, devotions, or small group studies. I may never figure it out, but one thing’s for sure- Bible reading has taken on a life of its own for me.

Last thing for today is this. Join me. It’s that simple. We can read through the pages we don’t understand together. The picture for this blog is the reading plan. Well, it's 2 pictures actually- front side and back side of the plan. I know I’m a little late in posting, but you can catch up! When the new plan is handed out, I will post pictures of it quicker! That way you won’t feel left behind. And, if you want to visit us on Sunday’s, we sure have a great Bible Breaker Downer in the pulpit. Find us on Facebook or YouTube: New Hope Friends Church, Goldsboro, NC! We’d love to have you!