In his study on chapter 12 of Romans, teacher Chip Ingram refers to God’s Word as found in the Bible as “the raw material of life change”. If we accept that notion, and believe that there is power in God’s Word, then it follows that we should seek to read, understand, think about, and memorize it. To do anything else really doesn’t make sense. And playing off of the ‘let’s live life together’ idea that I wrote about last time, getting into the Bible is much more easily accomplished with others. Maybe it’s one other person; maybe a group.
In talking to people, I’ve come to believe that a significant number of those who desire to know God’s Word, who want to spend time reading and processing what they read, don’t actually do it very consistently. I’ve found that many of these people are looking for help. They seek guidance, and are looking for just a little bit of structure and a plan. They also want to know they’re not alone, that others are joining them in the effort.
The Bible is a long book. It can be a very mysterious book. How can we come at it in a way that is enlightening, encouraging and sustainable, particularly for the reluctant readers among us? Glad you asked – here’s the idea….
Take it one chapter at a time. Read through the one chapter 4 or 5 times over the course of the week. Read it fast sometimes, read it slowly sometimes. Chew on it. Ask yourself questions about it. Ask God questions about it. Talk about it with your friends. Then next week, move on to the next chapter. When you finish a book, choose another and keep going, one chapter at a time.
If anything about this idea is intriguing to you, we’ve developed a tool that can help. It’s a website that can help guide you through the Bible. It’s nothing super fancy. It’s certainly not brilliant. It’s just a tool that can help someone stay on track with his/her effort to know God’s Word better. He has promised us that the good work He has begun in each of us will be carried on to completion. He has given us His Word as the ‘raw material of life change’, and I pray many will take advantage of that incredible offer.
The site is linked over on the side of this blog. It’s called readacaw.blogspot.com. Readacaw stands for “read a chapter a week”. Maybe not the catchiest title, but I hope you enjoy the site.