{"id":5605,"date":"2012-08-22T18:17:05","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T22:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/blog\/?p=5605"},"modified":"2012-10-11T17:40:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T21:40:57","slug":"how-the-bible-was-meant-to-be-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/how-the-bible-was-meant-to-be-read\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Bible Was Meant to Be Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the fourth entry in a series of posts by Brian Hardin, author and founder of Daily Audio Bible<\/a>. In his previous essay, The Benefits and Blessings of Reading Scripture<\/a>, Brian looked at the rewards of regular Bible reading. Here’s his latest essay, drawn from Brian’s book Passages: How Reading the Bible in a Year Will Change Everything for You<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why is it so hard to read the Bible? I mean, we want to. We like the idea of it, but when we crack open the big book, we\u2019re lost. We have no real context for it, and randomly opening to a page and throwing down our finger hoping for a mystical revelation doesn\u2019t usually work well.<\/p>\n

We feel like we must be failing as good Christians because we simply don\u2019t understand the Bible, and we can\u2019t find the time to figure out how to approach it. It\u2019s supposed to speak to us and guide us, but once we get beyond the verses we memorized in Sunday school, we\u2019re simply lost. <\/p>\n

How do we actually get anything out of Bible study? If we\u2019re going to attempt an answer, we must put away the idea that the Bible is a rulebook we\u2019re supposed to measure up to or that it\u2019s so cryptic we need a Master of Theology degree to unlock it. Conversely, it\u2019s not a book full of dainty little promises from a God who more resembles Santa Claus than the Lord Almighty. <\/p>\n

The Bible is a book about life. Our lives don\u2019t come to us in prepackaged bites, and neither does the Bible. Life comes at us in drama, intrigue, and emotion. Life comes to us as a story. We must approach the Bible as a story—the story of God and of God\u2019s people throughout history. What makes it dynamic and present today is that the story hasn\u2019t ended. We\u2019re each a part of the living, breathing story of God\u2019s passionate relationship with humankind, and we each have a place in it. <\/p>\n

If we\u2019re going to grow into the maturity God has designed us to have, we must modify our thinking. We must begin to think in terms of wholeness, connection, and integration\u2014about the proverbial forest as well as the trees. This is a stark contrast to modern culture, which has us parsing life into small, disconnected elements that we can arrange and rearrange to fit our circumstances. We experience this in the spiritual life when we divide biblical texts into sound bites rather than use the Bible as the baseline authority for life. <\/p>\n

Think of it like this. Most of us desire nutrition that contains what our bodies need to remain healthy and vital. But the ideal is harder to achieve than the realities of life. Often we find ourselves settling for what we can get at a drive-thru because we\u2019ve come unprepared to deal with what steals the day. Proper nutrition requires a complete commitment, and it requires the space in life that it takes to plan for and prepare these foods. In truth we have time for whatever we desire the most. If nutrition is nonnegotiable, it will be a reality in our lives. Spiritual nutrition works the exact same way. <\/p>\n

The Bible was meant to be read in good-sized pieces. All of us probably know a variety of promises that the Scriptures offer. Plenty of verses comfort us when we\u2019re facing a struggle or encourage us as we take a risk. If we make these verses quaint, one-size-fits-all anecdotes for life\u2019s challenges, we\u2019ll be plagued by questions about why they don\u2019t always work. If we really desire to have the life Christ offers us, we must make reading Scripture in context\u2014with space to breathe—a priority of our lives. <\/p>\n

In order to have the relationship with Scripture that we sincerely desire, we must take a leap of faith and carve out time to breathe it in, to allow God\u2019s Word to speak to us. When we take this step, God will invariably show up.<\/p>\n

Watch for the next post in this series later this month! In the meantime, you can read more of Brian’s writing in Passages<\/a>, or follow his work at Daily Audio Bible<\/a>. You can keep up with him each day at his blog<\/a>, Twitter feed<\/a>, or Facebook<\/a> or G+<\/a> pages.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is it so hard to read the Bible? I mean, we want to. We like the idea of it, but when we crack open the big book, we\u2019re lost… Brian Hardin shares his thoughts on how we ought to approach Scripture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[403],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Bible Was Meant to Be Read - Bible Gateway Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/how-the-bible-was-meant-to-be-read\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Bible Was Meant to Be Read - Bible Gateway Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why is it so hard to read the Bible? I mean, we want to. 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