Last night was my turn to leave Jerry at home with Oscar and go to Community Group. We used to go together, and then as a family. But as Oscar would have it, he sets and rises with the sun and so we improvise. We take turns going every other week and while it's not ideal, we have managed to make it work. And last night did not disappoint. It helps of course that Tyler's message Sunday was excellent and provided a lot of information about the historic nature of the Bible for us to mull over. Paige recapped it so beautifully that I will just say, "yeah what she said!" and let you read for yourself. Since I respond so well to history (favorite subject in school, Political Science degree) I really enjoyed the message from Sunday and was looking forward to discussing it as a group. And then something interesting happened.
Toward the beginning of our discussion, it occurred to me that I have never read the entire Bible. Being the daughter of a Pastor, you would think it to be a pre-requisite to moving out or getting your first car, but my parents always wanted me to WANT to learn about God and were pretty awesome about not "shoving it down my throat" (thanks for that). As a result, I did choose to follow Jesus and while I am sure I have probably read a LOT, if not most of the Bible, I know I haven't read the whole thing. I say all that to say that during our talk, I almost mentioned it and for whatever reason, pride, embarrassment, laziness, etc, I didn't. I then proceeded to forget I had even thought about it until RIGHT before we were wrapping it up.
Jonathan out of no where said, "hey, has anyone ever read the WHOLE Bible?" And out of 9 of us, one person said yes. ONE! And I knew that it was time. We all did.
So, we started talking about this seemingly massive undertaking and devised a plan. We'll be reading through the Bible in a Year in Chronological order. My history-loving self is latching right on to this awesomeness because I think having things laid out in order of events will really help me fill in the gaps. Not to say it will make me understand God - not at ALL. But I get really confused about details. What details? Oh I don't know, how about the fact that I honestly thought Paul was one of the ORIGINAL 12 disciples - instead of the post-resurrection convert that he was...I could go on. So yeah, definitely excited about this endeavor!
We have also decided to
blog about it as a group, so if anyone out there is interested in following along with us, the "plan" is posted over there! We are starting tomorrow!
2 comments:
I read through a Chronological bible in a year. It was an awesome experience. It put a lot of passages in context and helped me to understand things better. I hope you'll get the same and more out of your study.
Wish David-Craig and I were still there to participate! We miss you guys and I'll be anxious to hear how it goes. We've been reading Genesis with our new group here in DC and there is something really exciting about reading it chronologically!
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