Reading through the Bible

[Eyes to See]

Have you ever read through the Bible? How long did it take? How many times have you done it?

Psalm 1:2, 3 states:

"But his delight is in the law of Jehovah,
And he reads His law in an undertone day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
A tree that produces fruit in its season,
The foliage of which does not wither.
And everything he does will succeed."

I haven't always succeeded in reading the Bible every day, but it is my goal. Can you make it your goal if you haven't lately, or if you never have?

How you read it is more important than reading it. It should be with a humble spirit, under God's spirit. Always with prayer and supplication that God bless us with his spirit as we read his word that we may understand what it is he is telling us today.

 

[Good-Ole-Rebel]

Have you ever read through the Bible? How long did it take? How many times have you done it?

Psalm 1:2, 3 states:

"But his delight is in the law of Jehovah,
And he reads His law in an undertone day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
A tree that produces fruit in its season,
The foliage of which does not wither.
And everything he does will succeed."

I haven't always succeeded in reading the Bible every day, but it is my goal. Can you make it your goal if you haven't lately, or if you never have?

How you read it is more important than reading it. It should be with a humble spirit, under God's spirit. Always with prayer and supplication that God bless us with his spirit as we read his word that we may understand what it is he is telling us today.

I don't know how many times I have read through the Bible. It would be many. It usually takes me a couple of years. When I finish, I go back and start again. This is independent of any Bible study I do. It is just my daily reading. Of course I miss days also but I always continue with it. My present location is (Is. 58).

I believe this is important to read through the Bible from beginning to end. You get an understanding of God and the flow of what He is doing. If you only go to certain passages and books, you lose the continuity of it all. And a verse here and a verse there is like being in the ocean adrift.

Good-Ole-Rebel

 

[Brickjectivity]

Have you ever read through the Bible? How long did it take? How many times have you done it?

Psalm 1:2, 3 states:

"But his delight is in the law of Jehovah,
And he reads His law in an undertone day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
A tree that produces fruit in its season,
The foliage of which does not wither.
And everything he does will succeed."

I haven't always succeeded in reading the Bible every day, but it is my goal. Can you make it your goal if you haven't lately, or if you never have?

How you read it is more important than reading it. It should be with a humble spirit, under God's spirit. Always with prayer and supplication that God bless us with his spirit as we read his word that we may understand what it is he is telling us today.

I read through it completely one time when I was a preteen. After that I mostly just looked things up. It was difficult reading for me. The way that I managed to get through the text was by reading at night until I fell asleep. The next day I would try to find the place that I last remembered.

***edit***
Also, I have found that certain books almost have to be read in one sitting. Many of the NT letters have very long run-on sentences, run-on paragraphs and generally terrible structure. Roman is particularly daunting. When it comes to Paul's letters or anything short, try to read through it all at once or as much as you can in one sitting. Try to suss what the author is thinking about while they are writing. Its not always easy, both because they seem to wander about and return to subjects and because its just such alien language. Its not merely the bad sentence structure, either. They're replying to letters which you have not read, and they're talking to people that are old friends about people we have not met and situations. I often equate it to hearing 1/2 of a telephone conversation. Its easy to get the wrong idea.

 

[pearl]

Reading the Bible is one thing, understanding the intended message is another. Its true that a selective reading looses the unity of the whole.
The Bible ought to be read with the aid of sound scholarship, picking it apart. The next time your reading will be with a greater appreciation for the 'intent' of the author and what it means for today.

 

[Katja]

I'm not sure if I've ever read straight through the entire thing, but I'm working on it. This is helped along by the fact that I realized recently I'm not that fond of most lectionaries, with their cherry-picking of some parts and omission of others, or reading in bits and pieces. So I've decided I can make my own "lectionary," which in its first incarnation is simply going to be reading through the Bible in roughly a year. This translates to about 3 chapters a day (plus one psalm, as I decided not to treat the psalms in line with the rest), which I break up sort of into the "daily office" and this also makes it easier than trying to find time to read through the whole of it at once. The year thing is sort of arbitrary; I could have just as easily just decided on a number of chapters to read in a day and be done with it.

I believe this is important to read through the Bible from beginning to end. You get an understanding of God and the flow of what He is doing. If you only go to certain passages and books, you lose the continuity of it all. And a verse here and a verse there is like being in the ocean adrift.

Good-Ole-Rebel

Yes, I agree with this as well. Only reading a small part here and there makes it difficult to get the idea of the context. (But, unfortunately it also means reading through some parts of the OT is extremely painful, lol.)

 

[Good-Ole-Rebel]

I'm not sure if I've ever read straight through the entire thing, but I'm working on it. This is helped along by the fact that I realized recently I'm not that fond of most lectionaries, with their cherry-picking of some parts and omission of others, or reading in bits and pieces. So I've decided I can make my own "lectionary," which in its first incarnation is simply going to be reading through the Bible in roughly a year. This translates to about 3 chapters a day (plus one psalm, as I decided not to treat the psalms in line with the rest), which I break up sort of into the "daily office" and this also makes it easier than trying to find time to read through the whole of it at once. The year thing is sort of arbitrary; I could have just as easily just decided on a number of chapters to read in a day and be done with it.




Yes, I agree with this as well. Only reading a small part here and there makes it difficult to get the idea of the context. (But, unfortunately it also means reading through some parts of the OT is extremely painful, lol.)

Some parts are more interesting than others. But, there is much information even in the difficult sections. I may not appreciate it at the moment, but later I will remember something that was said there that brings light upon a certain doctrine or question I have.

Good-Ole-Rebel

 

[Katja]

Some parts are more interesting than others. But, there is much information even in the difficult sections. I may not appreciate it at the moment, but later I will remember something that was said there that brings light upon a certain doctrine or question I have.

Good-Ole-Rebel

I was referring more to the parts that were about

"So he built the temple, and the south wall was ten feet long and twelve feet high, and the west wall was eight feet long and twelve feet high. Likewise to the south wall, the north wall was ten feet long and twelve feet high, and likewise to the west wall, the east wall was eight feet long and twelve feet high. The measurement of the temple was ten feet by eight feet, with a height of twelve feet, on the east wall and the west wall, on the north wall and the south wall. On the east wall he built a door; this door was three feet wide and seven feet high. It was in the middle of the wall; there was 2.5 feet to the left side of it, and 2.5 feet to the right side of it. Now this door was made of wood, carved with flowers. Likewise also the ceiling was carved with flowers, carved with flowers the same as the door was carved with flowers. This door was covered in gold. In gold was it covered, over the wood carved with flowers; the door was covered with gold..."

or the parts about

"Now the sons of Bob were Jeremiah, Jim, Eric, Amir, and Roy. The sons of Jeremiah were four: Patrick, Ahmed, Robert, and Adam. The sons of Jim were three: Somchai, Rick, and Seamus. The sons of Eric numbered five: William, Oliver, Kotoro, Subramanyan, and Lucas. Amir had two sons: Jelani and Julian. Roy had five sons: Jackson, Sven, Mateo, Pierre, and Christopher. Now the clans all went to war together. On the day of the battle, the clan of Jeremiah, Jeremiah together with his sons Patrick, Ahmed, Robert, and Adam, went out. They went out in four lines, each line with ten men. Forty men they numbered, in four lines with ten men in each line. Also, the clan of Jim, Jim with his sons Somchai, Rick, and Seamus went out. They went out in four lines, each line with ten men. Forty men they numbered, in four lines with ten men in each line. Also, the clan of Eric, Eric with his sons William, Oliver, Kotoro, Subramanyan, and Lucas went out. They went out in four lines, each line with ten men. Forty men they numbered, in four lines with ten men in each line. ..."

I have to admit I have never found any answers to any doctrinal or other questions I have in these passages. I merely read them as a historical accounting, albeit a dry one.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Have you ever read through the Bible? How long did it take? How many times have you done it?

Psalm 1:2, 3 states:
Very true. For years I read the whole thing 3 times a year. Now I read 1-4 books over and over for a month. Pray about everything I question. Its been an eye opener
"But his delight is in the law of Jehovah,
And he reads His law in an undertone day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
A tree that produces fruit in its season,
The foliage of which does not wither.
And everything he does will succeed."

I haven't always succeeded in reading the Bible every day, but it is my goal. Can you make it your goal if you haven't lately, or if you never have?

How you read it is more important than reading it. It should be with a humble spirit, under God's spirit. Always with prayer and supplication that God bless us with his spirit as we read his word that we may understand what it is he is telling us today.