Bible Read-through

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?

Let me admit, tonight, I am an anxious father. Jenn’s out again tonight (she got to go out last night as well) and I’m putting the dude to be without the assets that Jenn has in her arsenal. (Enough said.) Last night the dude and I read through our chapters, then we went downstairs for a little supper. He found supper from dad to be a frustrating experience. So, he went to bed mad. And it took him a long time to settle down. For you seasoned parents a half hour may not seem like a long time, but to me, it was longer than I wanted. He fell asleep, eventually and all was good, but tonight, I didn’t want a repeat. So, as soon as Jenn fed him and then left for her girls night, he and I got the Bible and started our chapters.

Instead of reading on the bed, with the dude propped up by pillows and a stuffed elephant to play with, I held him. We read most of Matthew on the couch, then stood up and walked around reading the rest of our chapters. We ended our read of Psalm 10 (take that, mischief makers, you’re not hiding your mischief, even if you think you are) in the Taylor Pose. Then it was off to bed. Tonight was almost all about reading through the chapters while keeping the dude happy enough to go to bed easily. As such, we read of Rehoboam not fighting against his family. It probably would have made sense if we were reading it tomorrow after reading chapter ten.

In an unrelated thought, here’s a question from Ephesians for my learned readers. Should we strive for only righteous anger, as in “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,” (Eph 4:26) or do we strive for putting anger entirely away from us as in “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Eph 4:31) Perhaps the better question is, how do you understand Eph. 4:26 in light of Eph. 4:31?

Sorry for not posting the last couple of days. We’ve had a lot to take care of around the house. Anyway, today is day eight (the first if 52 weeks is down,) and I noticed something in Matthew that I thought I’d comment on. When Jesus heals the centurion’s servant, he marvels (remarkable in its own right) at the centurions faith compared to any in Israel. He says “many will come from east ans west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness.”

This struck me because I understand the “kingdom” that Jesus speaks of throughout Matthew to be that which the God the Father is doing. It caught me off guard, due to my understanding, that some of those who are of that which God is doing will be cast away.

How do you understand what Jesus refers to as the kingdom of heaven?

Well today is the fifth day of the new year and a good many Bible reading resolutions have failed. That’s the bad news. The good news is, it’s still so early in the year that you could start today and make up for lost time by the end of the weekend!

As far as making my decision goes, I really like the idea of reading the Bible aloud to my son this year. We did it again this evening. After we all ate, I take him upstairs, change him, then we sit on the bed (with a toy for him) and I read. Then, I put him to bed. Speaking of bed, yesterday we read Psalm 4:8 “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” that reminds me of how God answered my prayer for trust and sleep when we first brought the dude home.

Today, it took about sixteen minutes to read four chapters aloud, but we started the Sermon on the Mount, so that may account for some time. Hope your resolution still has resolve this far into the new year.

Well, today was my first day back at work. I’ve got a decision to make. You see, I had planned on arriving early at work during the week to read and journal this year. I find that I don’t easily have time in the evening to spend reading, and I don’t want to read myself to sleep at night. The truth is, I probably could find time each day to read, but that would require less television or computer once the boy is asleep. And the quiet and regularity of reading in the morning in my office is simply easier (and possibly more reliable.)

That said, I had some activity to attend to prior to work today (and will also tomorrow) and was unable to begin that plan. So, tonight I read (aloud again) to the little dude. It only took about twelve or thirteen minutes (aloud.) I like reading the Bible aloud. It’s something new to me. I also like reading to the little dude, and want to get him used to spending time daily in the Bible, even as a baby.

So, what do you think? Regular and close to certain, easy office reading, or out-loud with the dude, but perhaps irred