Those Who Won't Read, Study

I went to Borders this evening with my youngest daughter, Devon. She scurried off to the children's section, and I made my first stop in every bookstore, the Religion section.

I go through the aisle as if I haven't just seen all of these same books, like, a week ago. And I always end up in the same place-the Bibles. I peruse the stacks, seeing if there is a new translation out since Monday.

Right next to the Bibles are books about the Bible. These are actually my favorite books. I know I should read the Bible more than I do, but what I would truthfully prefer is to read books about the Bible-books that tell me how to read it, in what order I should read the books of the Bible, who the players are, what the stories mean, how to teach it. I could have read the Bible three times over in the time I've spent reading books about the Bible.

It's a real weakness. The Bible confuses me. The stories are out of chronological order sometimes. Often the details given seem completely irrelevant (to me). So I naturally want to turn to a book that makes me feel more academic. I recognize now that purely academic pursuit of the Bible leads to academic pursuit of God, which is a path away from where He wants us to be.

My desire to be well-read in the Bible is longstanding. I want to want to read it. I bought cool tabs for my Bible and spent an hour and a half placing them at the beginning of each book of the Bible. When I was done, I was to tired to actually read it.

I'm getting better. But I've made it through Genesis and Exodus probably five times, before falling off the program and starting all over again three months later. Actually, I have two different jumping off points: Genesis and Matthew. As for my New Testament forays, I have made it all the way through the four Gospels and Acts, but then Paul's letters don't hold my attention for too long.

Don't misunderstand me. This is my flaw, not Scripture's. I caught myself again tonight, and didn't allow myself to buy yet another book about the Bible.

Soooo. I guess I need to get off this computer and crack the Good Book, the one I spent about 10 minutes photographing and photo-editing to post on this blog. You see, I love the Bible. I'm just lazy about reading it.

In the beginning...