In an earlier post, I talked about how I fell into the habit of reading Bible commentaries and books about the Bible, rather than the Bible itself.
I know it's not New Year's, but my resolution is to commit to reading one chapter of the Bible a day until I am through it.
I"m already thinking about how I want to read the chronological Bible next, which sounds cool--the books are in the order of when the events in them actually happened.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. :-)
I"ve gone cold-turkey on books about the Bible, except for one, which is turning out to be fantastic: What The Bible Is All About by Henrietta Mears, which I believe was written in 1953.
The author was born in 1890! That's around the time my great-granny was born, and I think that was a generation where everyone had a deep love and knowledge of Scripture. Even as a little kid, I remember my great-granny praying and reading the Bible to me. A few years ago, my mom gave me granny's tattered old King James Bible, and I started crying as I thumbed through the well-worn pages and saw all her little notes in the margins.
She had also stuffed every note and drawing that I had given her into it, and many were in the pages of Isaiah, her favorite book.
I want a well-worn Bible. I want more of a love of Scripture. And I want to be able to call to mind verses that apply to any problem I am facing in life.
I hope that you do, too, and I hope that you are joining me in reading through the Bible!
We started on July 1st with Genesis 1, so there is still plenty o' time to catch up.
If you are reading Genesis now (or have in the past), what jumps out at you in the early chapters?
For me, it's how Jesus is all over Genesis! I never really got this before, but now I see it very clearly.
Let me share some specific places, as pointed out by Dr. Mears on page 26 of her book:
1. Seed of woman (3:15)
2. The entrance into the ark of safety (7:17)
3. The offering up of Isaac (22:1-24)
4. Jacob's ladder (28:12)
5. Judah's scepter (49:10)
6. Joseph lifted from pit to throne (37:28; 41:41-44)
Most of these will be coming up in our reading in the next few weeks, so I hope you are as excited as I am to read over some familiar stories with a fresh eye as we look for hints of Jesus. Yay!
Don't you love that Genesis is a book of beginnings? Moses, guided by the Holy Spirit, wrote a book containing truths that "all the future revelation of God to people is built." (Mears, p. 25)
Maybe you are looking for a new beginning. Know that I am praying for you (and for me!) as we read, that God would open our eyes and hearts and reveal Himself to us in the pages of His beautiful Word.
One thing I must confess, though: I am so easily distracted! A bird flying by the window...someone coughing in the distance...Dallas breathing....they can all make me lost my train of thought. And I also have questions about random things that I read.
For example: If Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, and Cain and Abel were their sons (Chapter 4), where did Cain's wife come from?
My friend Tracey Tiernan is really smart, loves God, and really knows Scripture, so I present her answer:
All humans are descendants of Adam and Eve. According to Genesis 5:4, " After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters."
So Cain married one of his sisters. Obviously, not something that's ok in our culture today, but there were no other options for them to be fruitful and multiply back in Adam and Eve's day. The issue of genetic defects wouldn't have been a problem because there weren't alot of generations yet for them to develop. People lived a lot longer and did a lot of mulitplying:)
Well, now.
Happy reading! I can't wait to hear your thoughts via email or the comments.
Btw, you can read the whole Bible in any translation at http://www.crosswalk.com/.
