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 Religion
How To Hate Reading Your Bible In The 2010 "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path." Psalm 119:105 By Pastor Phillip Howle web posted December 30, 2009 RELIGION – New Years is here and it is time for everyone to make their New Year’s Resolutions. There are two resolutions that I make every year. One is to read the Bible through; the other is to lose some weight. Now, I always read the Bible through, but I don’t always lose much weight. Why do I accomplish one and not the other? Because I love reading scripture and I don’t enjoy dieting or diet food. You see the things that we love to do are easy to accomplish. I wish that all people loved reading their Bible. But, when I talk to most people they usually portray it as a chore and burden. As I probe a little further I have found out why their reading their Bible is so unfruitful for them. So, from that I have compiled a list from personal experience and the experience of others on how to hate reading your Bible. I guarantee you that if you follow these steps you will waste your time and never make your goal of reading the Bible through in a year. • First, always read
right before bed when are exhausted after you watched hours of TV
• Second, just open the Bible at random and start reading, odds are pretty good of hitting a genealogy • Third, never read more than five verse at a time, because if you do, you may actually get the idea of what is going on • Fourth, always try and tackle the most difficult passage first. They will encourage you to give up reading more quickly • Fifth, don’t have a plan or a system to help you read your Bible by. Then you might know where to start • Sixth, never make notes or journal about what you are learning, it may help you process your thoughts • Seventh, never share what you have read with others, because talking about it might bring the Bible into focus • Eighth, never attend a Bible study, because the mutual encouragement of others may help the confusion to disappear • Ninth, never bother your preacher with questions or advice, because he might waste your time and give you some help and advice • Tenth, never work too hard, never think too much, never give too much effort, because you might have a breakthrough in scriptural understanding • Eleventh, never sacrifice time just to read the Bible because you can always read it next year • Twelfth, never try and help your family read there Bible as well. You interest in their spiritual lives my cause the family to grow closer together • Thirteenth, whatever you do, just don’t read your Bible daily, because it may lead you to a closer relationship with God, which will lead to a heightened awareness of personal sin, which will lead to repentance, which will lead to holiness, which the Bible says if we don’t have we will not see God (Heb 12:14) Now, I hope you got the sarcasm. On fact doing the opposite of all of these will be very helpful! I will be writing for the next few weeks on how to read your Bible and hopefully we can all become joyful Christians who deeply enjoy reading and studying God’s word! I also don’t want any excuses for you not giving this a shot. Donald Whitney writes that “Recorded readings of the Bible have proven that you can read through the entire Book in seventy-one hours? The average person in the United States watches that much television in less than two weeks. In no more than fifteen minutes a day you can read through the Bible in less than a year’s time. (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 33) I think R.C. Sproul nailed the matter of Bible reading when he wrote “Here then, is the real problem of our negligence: We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.” So make the resolution now! You see the more you put into reading God’s Word the more you will get out! The more you understand Scripture, the more you will enjoy Scripture. Then you will see the fruit of your life being changed and then Bible reading is a chore no more, but a great and crucial joy in your life! Also, use those Christmas Gift Cards and head to Wal-Mart or any other store and buy a good study Bible. I recommend the ESV Study Bible; it is amazing and probably the best on the market today. I also enjoy the clear reading NLT Study Bible and you can’t go wrong with the Life Application Study Bible either. The Message is a very modern translation, it is great for reading and understanding, but it may not be for everyone. Here is if you would like to see a few different Bible reading plans or some good online prices for Study Bibles, just shoot me an email at philliphowle@hotmail.com and I will send you a bunch of them to choose from. Praying You All Have A Scripture Filled New Year! Pastor Phillip © Copyright 2009
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