#operationreadymyBible #thestruggleisreal #nomoreexcuses [Part 1]

The other day I asked this question on Facebook:

For those of you who don’t read the Bible as much as you wish you did, Why don’t you read more?

What’s the obstacle/hang-up?

Be real here, folks.

And, alas, you were so real.

I received more than fifty reasons. And they are very familiar…

I asked the question because even though I do read the Bible on a pretty much daily basis, I still (STILL) struggle to get my rump in a chair and pick up the book. That’s despite the fact that I think it’s one of three things most changing me into the image of Christ and despite the fact that I LOVE doing it.

STILL it’s hard.

So, I thought I’d spend the next couple days responding to your (our) reasons, taking them one at a time.

I’m not going to guilt anybody for their struggles, but I am going to challenge you to push past the excuses. My goal is to equip you for the fight. Because it’s a fight worth fighting.

Reading the Bible will, I promise, change your life.

So, let’s get started…

Reason #1 I don’t read my Bible:

I don’t even know where to start.

Excellent reason. :)

A lot of people pick up the Bible and try to read it like a novel: start at the beginning and read straight through. If you don’t know much about the Bible, this is probably a bad idea. Genesis isn’t too hard (a little weird, for sure), but pretty quickly you find yourself in Leviticus waist deep in Levitical law, reading about weird stuff like pus and how to butcher a lamb.

Here’s the advice I give all beginning readers of the Bible: Read a gospel. That means Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Mark’s the shortest. And Luke’s good because it leads straight into another book written by Luke: Acts.

I like the gospels because they’re about Jesus. And you probably know Jesus. At least a little.

Start with what’s most familiar.

Next, I suggest Acts. Then maybe one of the smaller epistles like Colossians, Phillipians, James, or I John.

With the Old Testament, Psalms is great because the chapters are short, and again, some of them are familiar. Read the Psalms like you’d read song lyrics.

So, that’s where to start.

You just have to jump in. Pick an easy book and read it. Devotedly. Read a chapter a day. Or half a chapter. Whatever.

Just read.

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Follow this series of posts by searching the hashtag #operationreadmybible