Skip to main content

Thoughts on reading books of the Bible in one sitting

One of the practices that I think is very helpful for every Christian is to read whole books of the Bible in one sitting. We often read a chapter here or a chapter there or even worse just a few verses from a paragraph so we do not get the whole picture of the book the way that it was meant to be presented. The Bible calls us to pay attention to the public reading of Scripture, and I think that means that we should read large portions of Scripture together as believers. Some of Paul's letters including Ephesians and Colossians were letters that were sent to whole churches and circulated abroad and were meant to be read out loud in one sitting. I was recommended this by another believer and found it to be extremely helpful in my walk with Christ. Once I sat down and read through the book of Hebrews in one sitting I instantly realized how powerful this was for understanding and being able to apply the word of God to my life.

Here are a few reasons why I think that you should consider reading through whole books of the Bible in one sitting:

  1. You will see the big picture, the bird's eye view of the whole book.
  2. You will understand prominent themes in the book that you do not see clearly when only reading portions
  3. You will better be able to follow the flow of thought of the author
  4. You will better be able to explain that book of the Bible to another believer

Yesterday I decided to read through the Gospel of Mark in one sitting and I have included my thoughts below...

It was amazing how action-packed Mark's Gospel is. It seemed like every scene Jesus was "immediately" healing someone, casting out demons, or being Lord over creation. It is also remarkable how John Mark kept the focus of Jesus being the divine Son of God throughout, yet nobody acknowledged this until after his death when the Roman guard saw his blood and water come out. Yet throughout the book God testifies that he is his Son (baptism, Transfiguration), Jesus himself teaches it, and the demons constantly recognize it. The Gospel of Mark seems to be consumed with the identity of Jesus. The crowds, the disciples, and the Pharisees are constantly wondering "Who then is this?" and there are multiple times when people would get a glimpse of Jesus's identity through his miraculous power, and he would command them not to tell it to others, but they couldn't keep it in, and they're telling others was the cause of his not being able to travel in certain places. Many were afraid when they realized that the man they were dealing with was the Son of God.

Meditate and pray on: Jesus' identity, the weightiness of the son of God coming to earth, the gravity of the son of God laying down his life for sinners on the cross, the breakneck pace of Jesus' life to fulfill all righteousness and usher in God's kingdom, the sheer power and strength of the son of God, the suffering and hostility poured out on the son of God by sinners.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

7 Steps to the Pulpit

Many times I’ve sat on the front pew just prior to the sermon time looking at the steps to the pulpit. In these moments each Sunday morning I’m reminded of the great task with which I have been entrusted and my own weakness to perform it. After hours of painstaking study and prayerful preparation, I still stare at those steps and feel under qualified, knowing I’ve only scratched the surface of the message. There is a certain holy trembling a preacher feels before climbing those steps to proclaim God’s eternal Word. In centuries past, preachers like Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones had to climb winding staircases to reach the “sacred desk”, but many pulpits today are just a few steps above the floor. Whether you have many steps or none at all, it is an other-worldly task we have been given. The following are a few practical steps preachers can take before climbing the real ones on Sunday morning... 1. Get in the Word We must immerse ourselves in the text at the outset o

God's Power to the Humble

Today I read: 2 Kings 5, Psalm 51, Daniel 9, and 1 Timothy 2. Gospel Summary: We must humble ourselves before God in order to experience His power. Those who do not come to the cross on their knees will be denied its saving power. Prayer: Great and awesome God, show me your power and glory so that I may stay humble before you at all times and not think that I have anything to boast of on my own. Thank you for humbling yourself in the wonder of the incarnation and the shame of the cross so that I might experience the power of your salvation. Show me my own proneness to wander from you so that I may constantly come humbled before your throne, for you use your power against the proud and I never want to experience that. Make your power known through me as I come constantly humbled before you, so that you may draw sinners to the Savior from among all peoples. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray, amen. Hymn: "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior" by Fanny Crosby Pass me

Sleep: Keeping in the Guardrails

Sleep is great. Who doesn’t want to get a full eight hours every night and wake up feeling rested and refreshed? Yet most of us find this quite challenging, if not impossible. There can be any number of reasons why we don’t get a good night’s sleep: work demands, small children who often cry out at night, household chores that must be completed, our favorite TV show that comes on late, a guilty conscience or racing mind, or even a health problem. For those of us who don’t have as much responsibility,  over sleeping can be a temptation: college students who don’t have class until 11am, the retired or unemployed who don’t have a boss waiting on them, or the self-employed who don’t have a fixed schedule. What can we do to avoid losing control of our sleep and this causing damage in other aspects of our lives? God’s Word teaches us to stay between two guardrails: too little sleep and too much sleep. The first guardrail, too little sleep, is found in Psalm 127:2: “ It is vain that you r