Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
— 2 Timothy 3:16-17
It’s pretty common for people to run across a passage like this and think, “Y’know, I ought to read the Bible more.” Then they try, and for whatever reason, they become discouraged quickly. They stop trying, feeling more lowly than ever.
They might go to their pastor and confess, “I want to study my Bible but I’m terrible at it. Can you give me some pointers?”
Often, the issue is just getting started. Some people can steel their nerves, start at page one, and keep plowing through to the end. Most, though, get bogged down as soon as they hit the first list of “begots.” This guy begot this other guy, who begot this one, who begot this other one.
(The first instance of this happens on page nine of the Bible in front of me.)
So, less than 10 pages into it and the eyes are glazing over.
Let me do my pastoral part to alleviate as much of the difficulty as I can. You have my official permission (for the large amount that is worth) to start where you like.
You also have permission to dabble. If you don’t know where to begin, start somewhere and, if you get bored or lost, go somewhere else.
How do you know what you might like? There are about a trillion books and online resources that can help you figure that out. Find an “Introduction to the Bible” or a work that summarizes the various Bible books.
Read what catches your interest.
Most people enjoy action and drama. If you really haven’t done much Bible reading yet, pick one up and find the Gospel of Mark. Mark is a short book, and it has none of the lists and repetitive items people dread. It moves quickly. It’s a fun read.
“Wait a second, preacher! Are you allowed to say the Scripture is fun to read?”
I don’t see why not. I’ll go one further and admit there are other places that are not so much fun. (I waited a full minute after typing that, and have not, as yet, been struck by lightning.)
Get through Mark. Use one of these new-fangled inventions called a bookmark to keep your place, in case you put it down and miss a few days. When you’re done, you might enjoy the Gospel of John, which has a different take on the same events, at a pace that allows us to think about what we’ve seen and heard. Or, if you want more of the fast pace, go to the book of Acts, to see what all the characters you just read about do in the sequel.
My final permission is this: Don’t feel obligated to become an instant expert. Don’t beat yourself up for forgetting stuff. Just read. You have to see what it says before you have any hope of knowing what it means. Keep taking small bites and chewing on it.
Pray that God will guide you to what he knows you need. Pray for help in understanding.
Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: