You simply cannot get to know God well without reading His Word.  It’s the starting point.

 

Many have literally given their lives so that we could have access to the collection of stories, ideas, poems, prophecies (and SO much more) that we call the Bible.  God Himself breathed it into being much like he breathed us into life, and He promises that His Spirit will guide us when we seek the truth.  The remarkable harmony achieved between 66 books written by more than 40 authors over the course of more than 1,400 years is nothing short of a miracle.  Its preservation and translation for more than 2,000 years is a long list of miraculous stories.  We simply cannot take this amazing gift for granted.

 

Besides all the scriptures we’ll work our way through together, here are some great ideas to help anyone get into the Bible--no matter what their church is focusing on, at the time!

 

• Find a Bible laid out in chronological order and read through it like you’re reading a novel.

• Listen to the Bible on CD or .mp3, or have someone read it to you.

• Keep looking till you find a translation of the Bible you can really understand.

• Watch a verse-by-verse movie version (e.g., Matthew or The Gospel of John).

• If you get stuck in one passage, switch to another one.

• Always read at least one of the gospels every year.

• Make Bible study part of your daily routine--even if that means listening to it while you walk or clean or shower or lift weights, reading it while you eat breakfast, watching it on DVD before you go to sleep at night, or whatever it takes.

• Use biblegateway.com or other online resources that let you search for words, topics, etc., and study all the contextual stuff around every verse you find in that category.

• Use selected Psalms to begin, end, or guide certain prayer times--or set them to music.

• Carry your favorite copy of the Bible around so you can access it quickly when you get a surprise free minute, stuff things in it that you want to look at later, have it handy to show someone something or ask someone about something you found earlier.

 

Anyone who REALLY wants to know more about the spiritual disciplines should check out the following resources:

 

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

The Reflective Life by Ken Gire

Living With Jesus Today by Juan Carlos Ortiz