Most Christians realize that the Bible is very important to the Christian faith. So much so, in fact, that it often leads to treating the Bible in some strange ways. We might take a particular sentence (verse) and memorize it, but use it out of context. There are some strange views of how the Bible was produced (ie: dictation). Some Christians might venerate the physical Bible in the home, yet hardly ever crack it open and just read.

‘Just’ reading the Bible is an important practice that has, too often, been lost today, especially with all the technology we now have. I must admit that I have been guilty of this as well. I have participated in (and have taught) book studies where I dug into a particular book or text. I’ve read the entire Bible at least a couple times for classes over the years or in studying the individual books. However, up until recently, I have not made a great effort to simply read the Bible as a book and try to get familiar with it in an overall way. Continue Reading…