-okay, so you hear me say all the time to read your Bibles.
-this is not saying not to read your Bibles, per se. Instead, it’s a different way of looking at it.
-the problem is most people read their Bible improperly, not saying that there is one specific right way to do it, but we place the amount we read over what we read or what we do with it.
-so as we get close to Christmas and you end up hearing or reading the same story over and over again for the next month, here are some things to think about.
1. NO GOALS
-one of the biggest problems we have is people read with a purpose.
-if you ever talk to a mountain climber, one of the things people do wrong when the climb is they climb with a schedule. They say they’ll get to the top by this time, but in doing so, they don’t account for weather, erosion, all sorts of problems, and when they do hit those problems, they try to keep the schedule over their safety.
-reading the Bible is not a race. Too many times we try to promote reading the Bible in a year like it’s a pre-requisite to get into heaven.
-reading “x” amount of minutes or “x” chapters a day do not get you into heaven. It’s possible for someone to read the Bible cover to cover and still not get into heaven. I know of Muslims who have read the Bible cover to cover, but that doesn’t mean they believe what’s in it.
-it’s good to read all of the Bible and you will need to schedule a lot of time to do it, but is it more important to read the whole thing as quickly as possible, or to get something out of it?
-John Ortberg, a pastor whose book I’m reading, said he used to do this and speed through the Bible, but then he realized that he quite often would read something good, and it would hit him, and he would think about it, but then go, “No, I have to keep reading, I have a schedule” when instead he should have stopped and thought about and prayed about what he read.
-do you think God wants you to read it just to read it, or wants you to slow down and get something out of it?
-another problem with cover to cover, you’ll spend 6 months without reading anything about Jesus...
2. WHAT ARE YOU READING?
-brings up the next part, there are many different types of readings in the Bible.
-when you read the letters in the New Testament, they’re to learn from.
**Eph. 4:2 -> 2Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. (NLT)
-that’s in the letters / epistles. It’s a teaching verse. You’re asked to do that. You should be humble, be gentle, be patient. No brainer.
**I Sam. 22:16-19 -> 16“You will surely die, Ahimelech, along with your entire family!” the king shouted. 17And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the LORD, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn’t tell me!” But Saul’s men refused to kill the LORD’s priests. 18Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. 19Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the priests’ families—men and women, children and babies—and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. (NLT)
-now, is God telling you to go out and kill priests? NO! It’s a piece of history in the Bible that we can learn from, learning from others mistakes, not doing them.
-involves more thinking, remember why what your reading was written by God. David’s story of him having an affair with another man’s wife is not in there to tell you to do it, but if you read more, his son dies because of it and his kingdom is never the same. God wants you to learn from these mistakes.
-so remember to think about what you’re reading.
-but when you read the history parts, remember it’s real! Try picturing it. Try closing your eyes for a second and wondering what did it look like when the disciples were fishing with Jesus, when David killed Goliath, when a leper came to Jesus and asked for healing, then the look on his face when he could see his wife and children again for the first time in years.
-now, here’s some ideas of ways to read the Bible other than speed reading.
3. LECTIO DIVINA
-for centuries, this is one of the ways priests and monks were taught to read the Bible.
-it is designed to allow a promise to arise out of the text and allow you to focus on it (divine words).
first step: read the passage and listen to what God is saying.
second step: go over it over and over. Monks would actually repeat the phrase or passage out loud over and over until something popped out at them.
third step: prayer. What a novel idea, talking to God about what He is saying to you in print. They’re His Scripture, ask Him for help understanding it. Even if you’re not doing Lectio Divina, it’s still a good idea to pray when reading the Bible…
fourth step: contemplation. You sit and think about what you have just read, what God is saying, and how it can be applied to your life. Everything you read in the Bible can be applied to your life, even if it’s don’t do what that guy did. It’s not a huge quick, take up time goal, it’s spending time with God and contemplating what He’s saying to you through the Bible and through prayer. Usually the two line up since they’re both of God.
-realize this is not meant to be done quick, but not all things in life are meant to be quick, we’ve made them that way.
-very deep and contemplative.
4. SINGLE WORD READING
-exactly like the name says, you read one word per day.
-so how do you get something out of one word a day? More than you’d think.
-Louie Giglio (he started a college group with some guys named Chris Tomlin and David Crowder) wrote this in one of his books.
-it comes from an idea by Prof. Louis Agassiz, a scientist who taught at Harvard in the 19th Century. He would tell his lab students to look at a fish, they would write down everything, then they’d report to the professor and he’d say, “No, you haven’t seen it yet! Start over!” and send them back to study it again. He’d usually make them do this all day, every day, for a week. But each time they went back they’d find something new.
-so this is what he did with John 1:14, he went one word per day.
-the first word, “And”, he spent a whole day on it. It’s “and”, a conjunction tying the Old Testament to Jesus. It’s like God took the entire Old Testament, then said, “wait, there’s more…”
-next was “the”. And says there’s more, but “the” means there’s something specific. Very specific. Jesus was “The” Son.
-”Word”. How is Jesus the Word of God. He is the Bible living.
-and so on and so forth for every word in the verse, one word a day, looking up where “Word” is in other parts of the Bible.
-so trying to going to other verses in the Bible and doing it, taking time to see everything that God put in there.
-when you go quick, you miss a lot, this forces you to go slow, kind of like the Labyrinth or our Vicis Per Deus prayer walk nights.
5. PRAYING THE PSALMS
-you know, they were originally prayers. Songs written to God as prayers.
-try reading a Psalm and having it be your prayer. Even put your name or what’s happening to you in the Psalm.
**Ps. 142 -> 1I call to the LORD for help; I plead with Him. I plead with Him. 2I bring Him all my complaints with my friends; I tell Him all my troubles at school. 3When I am ready to give up, He knows what I should do. In the path where I walk, the people who gossip about me have hidden a trap for me. 4When I look beside me, I see that there is no one to help me, no one to tell the truth for me. No one cares for me. 5LORD, I cry to you for help; you, LORD, are my protector; you are all I want in this life. 6Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from the gossippers; they are too strong for me. 7Set me free from my distress; then when I’m at youth I will praise you because of your goodness to me. (GNT)
-make it personal. The Psalms were written by a person to a Person, to God. You don’t have the same situations as David, there aren’t people chasing you with swords, but you feel depressed or like you can’t go on, well then, pray that, substitute your situation in the Psalm.
6. MEMORIZATION
-it kind of helps to remember what you read.
-what good is it to read something about how God will help you and love you in troubled times, but then when you hit trouble, you don’t remember it or even where to look for it?
-that’s why you memorize! So you can quote Scripture in your head when you need it.
-go home tonight, read Luke 4. Jesus is tempted to do things and each time he quotes Scripture.
-if you forget it, what’s the point.
**Ja. 1:22-25 -> 22Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves. 23Those who hear God’s teaching and do nothing are like people who look at themselves in a mirror. 24They see their faces and then go away and quickly forget what they looked like. 25But the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy. (NCV)
-happy people carefully study the Word and remember it!
-which leads us to:
7. APPLICATION
-what good is it to read the Bible if you don’t apply it to your lives?!
-that’s why I don’t want you to just read the Bible. Ooo, you read words on a page, good job. Living it is what you need to do!
**Deut. 29:9 -> 9Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. (NIV)
-your supposed to do what you read in the Bible, then look. God will prosper you!
-it’s more than a pretty book with nice gold leaf. You’re supposed to actually be doing what’s in it.
**Ps. 1:1-3 -> 1Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. 3They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (NLT)
-delighting in the Word of God, doing what it says, prospering in what they do.
-so my question to you is are you doing what the Bible tells you? Are you applying it to your lives? We’ve talked the last few weeks about telling people about Jesus, have you been? Are you worshipping God in all you do, allying with other Christians, attending Bible studies and being taught, serving and
equipping others, reaching your friends, all things we have talked about since school started?
-anyone can read the Bible, it’s much harder to live it out, but that’s what Jesus wants us to do.
**John 13:15 -> 15I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. (NLT)
