One of the nice things about being here with James for SOS is all of the free time. It's allowed me to settle into a routine that includes regular, long quiet times with God in the morning. As a result, last week I wrapped up my 3rd trip through the Bible cover to cover and begin a new reading plan.
James and I both committed to reading through the entire Bible before we got married, and have continued regularly spending time in the word since then. With each pass through the Good Book, I've tried to change something up to prevent me from glossing over things due to familiarity. I usually use a different translation each time, and focus on different ways to engage with the material.
The first time I read through it, I went straight through it like a novel, just kind of taking in the lay of the land, so to speak. It was great, but I found myself zoning out during boring stretches and I know I didn't really absorb everything. So the second time I made sure to write down or highlight any verses that jumped out at me. That extra level of effort kept me more focused and ensured I didn't miss anything. This most recent time, I took it up a level and SOAP'ed my way through the Message paraphrase.
"SOAP" is an acronym we teach our teenagers to help them get more out of reading the Bible. In a journal, you write down the Scriptures that jump out at you as you read, Observe what the author was trying to say, Apply that lesson to your own life, and Pray that God will help you act on that lesson to promote spiritual growth and life change. If you haven't tried this Bible study method, I highly recommend it. It's so simple, and yet you will be amazed what God has to say to you personally, even in the most random passages of scripture.
I now feel like I have a good grasp on the content of the Bible. (I'm not saying I fully understand it all. Just that I'm pretty familiar with the flow of the Biblical narrative.) However, I often get confused about the historical timeline of the Old Testament. So the new reading plan I've begun takes you through the Bible in chronological order by date. Already, it has tripped me up a bit. Somehow I assumed I'd have to wait till after the pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible) before it started jumping around to tell the story historically. But 11 chapters into Genesis, we suddenly jumped to Job. I'd heard that Job was the first book to be written in the Bible, but that gave me a totally new perspective on the story. Job's relationship with and knowledge of God is pretty amazing when you realize he predated Abraham, the father of our faith!
Daily devotions have been an important part of James' and my walk with God, and we look forward to reading Bible stories to our son every night and hopefully helping him begin his Christian walk very early on!
No comments:
Post a Comment