Note to self: Psalm 32 would be a good one to memorize.

Today marks the beginning of the Gospel According to Mark in my reading plan. Something that immediately stands out to me is Mark’s use of the word “immediately.” He uses it eight times in the first chapter (and throws in a couple of “at once”es for good measure.) I hope over the next few days I’ll get an idea of what the rush was.

So, somehow in all the other times (like a half dozen or so, maybe) that I’ve read Genesis 18, I didn’t remark on Abraham’s three visitors in the first part of the chapter. Well, maybe I did, but when I read it tonight, it seemed like the first time I read it. You see, I didn’t grow up in a Christian home that read these stories, so I don’t have a category for what’s going on here.

As I read this account, it seems to me that the Lord God said He was going to appear to Abraham, and at the beginning of this chapter He does. And Abraham sees the Lord God in the form of three men. Now, come on, that’s pretty cool and you’ve got to admit that there are some pretty interesting potential implications about God if I’m understanding things right.

I asked Jenny about it, and she seems to think that her Golden Arch books had pictures of regular men for Abraham’s visitors. My ESV study Bible (heh, I just mis-spelled it as “stuffy” Bible,) states that the due to the Hebrew spelling of the word for Lord in verse 3, that Abraham recognizes that one of his visitors is a divine manifestation.

I’m curious to know what some of you scholars, or long time Christians who may have been taught about this. Does Abraham receive a visit from God and three men, are these three men God visiting Abraham, or is one of these men the Lord visiting Abraham. How do you understand this and what’s the significance of the three visitors as you understand the encounter?

We’re getting into the third week of January this week. Some of you will be half way through Exodus on in your Bible reading plan. Others, like me have just read about the transfiguration (Which caused me to ask, what is the nature of a vision?) God’s covenant with Abram, and we’re looking forward to some “greatest hits” next week like Psalm 23.

When it comes to establishing a regular Bible reading plan, some people say that it takes 90 days to form a habit. Others say that once you get into Leviticus in February the “slogging” gets tough, presumably because the content gets boring. This morning, I saw a short video from John Piper where he states (as only he can) that the Bible isn’t boring, Avatar is.

I have made a decision as to how I am going to attempt to read through the Bible this year. It is my plan to read through my Bible reading plan by reading it aloud to the little dude. I’ve never read the entire Bible aloud, so that is new to me and a fun thing to do. But more important to me, is that I am reading it aloud to my son. I hope that it is a practice that he gets used to and enjoys over the course of this year. I want to instill the value of spending time in God’s word in him while he is young. I don’t imagine he’ll be reading for a few more years, but even though I’m reading aloud to him, I hope this starts him on a lifelong practice of daily quiet time.

That said, the last two days have been really rough in the sleeping department. Both nights, the dude has been asleep before supper time, so I didn’t get to read to him. Tonight, Jenn read to him, so he just missed one day. And I’ve been keeping up reading aloud. Last night, I read to Jenn, tonight I read to no one in particular. Just thought you would want to know.

Those of you with children, or who have Christian parents, how do you help your kids establish personal Bible reading, or how did your parents encourage you?