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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.

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