Dear Father, my mind is like spring! Things are popping up that I did not realize were there! May my joy continue, and may they continue to grow under the rays of the Son and the Living Water that is poured forth! Amen.
Acts 9:19b-31 (<<click here to read the passage)
I want to begin by saying that reading the Bible is very important for any follower of Jesus. There are so many things that we discover when we do so. One thing that stuck out for me were the number of songs that came to mind, especially hymns! Of course, it makes perfect sense that God’s Word would inspire so much great music. So many other genres of music have had quite a bit of inspiration from the Scriptures as well.
Reading the Bible has to be something you put your mind to. Some sections can be difficult to get through – the Old Testament books of the Law for example. Some years ago, I made a point of reading through the Bible several times over an extended period. With a 40-minute commute at the time, I also listened to the Bible on CD several times over. I am not attempting to be boastful; it is just the path that I took. I was amazed at how much that overall view of God’s Word made me aware of how many things touched each other and overlapped from Old Testament to New.
Right before I started journaling back in 2015, I switched gears and begin very methodically going through the Bible. I picked up right where I was reading at the time, which was the book of Ephesians. So instead of striving to read the entirety of Scripture as often as I could, I shifted to reading and thinking about much shorter sections of Scripture. It allowed me to go deep and not just wide.
It’s getting close to 7 years, but I still have gotten through even the New Testament! It’s been a much slower process. But honestly, both are beneficial to our growth spiritually.
The reason I speak of such things is that I learned something through today’s passage that I never knew. I heard it for the first time in my attempt to delve a bit into podcasts. I started listening to one entitled, The Early Christian Church. (I enjoyed it, though it’s probably not a topic everyone would get into.) Then I read it again in the notes of my Application Study Bible.
I never realized that Saul (later Paul) didn’t go straight from his place of conversion, Damascus, to Jerusalem! That happened three years later! Why did I not know this?!
We learn the chain of events in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. Following his conversion he states,
…I did not rush out to consult with any human being. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
Then three years later I went to Jerusalem… Galatians 1:16c-18a NLT
My point simply is…read the Bible! Do what you can. Try to be consistent. Don’t feel pressured to read it all. The Gospel of John is a great place to start. The New Testament is a bit easier to get through but there are many wonderful things in the Old Testament as well.
You’d prefer seeking out a bit more depth of a smaller amount of Scripture? Get a study Bible. The Life Application one I have is great and it’s available in many different translations. Not sure which translation to use? Reach out to me and I can give you some direction.
All in all, one of the best ways to draw closer to God is to read what He’s written for us. Go for it!
Mar 23rd, 2022, Wed, 1:00 pm
