new view of the bible

New View Of The Bible

by Brent Moody
Southside Church of Christ
Pasadena, Texas

There is something special about things that are new. I love the beginning of a new book, or a new chapter in a book. Do you remember getting your first bicycle? I remember pulling mine off the conveyer belt at the Service Merchandise in Burlington, Vermont. It was a ten speed with a yellow, blue, and red body. I was so excited when we got home. I rode it up and down our street until it was too dark to see. I remember my first baseball glove. It was just like my dad’s, except mine was right- handed and much smaller. I remember my first night at Florida College. I went to Steak N’ Shake with a bunch of friends. One of those friends was Katie McGee. She had no idea that she would be my wife. Although the thought had not crossed her mind, it had crossed mine—I made sure my seat was next to hers. We tend to remember things that are new. They occupy a special place in our heart, because they are new and exciting.

Reading the Bible is exciting. It always has an element of newness to it. The Bible contains 66 books and 1189 chapters. How many of these books and chapters have you read? I am not certain that I have read every chapter in the Bible. Even if you have read them all, have you read them twice, or three times? Do you have a good understanding of what they mean? Each book, chapter, and verse is available to us for a specific purpose. Therefore, each and every record in the Bible is of value to us. If you are like me, you do not study the Bible enough. I plan to be better about reading and studying the Bible. I often find myself wasting precious time that could be used to gain valuable knowledge from God’s word. Let’s start something new and exciting together. Let’s start, today, to set aside more time for God’s word. We can usually make more time for the things that are important to us.

Reading the Bible can seem intimidating at times. Anybody who is honest will admit that there is much that they do not know or understand about the Bible. That means that there are many new and exciting things to be found within the pages of the Bible. Perspective is an interesting thing. What would you say if I asked you how much your house cost? You might say “It cost $150,000 at 6.5% interest.” What if I told you that the total cost of that house, on a 30 year mortgage, is actually $341,316.75? That is over twice as much. Doesn’t that house suddenly seem much more expensive? It is funny how perspective changes our attitude about things. Sometimes we don’t have the right perspective of how to study the Bible. The book of Jeremiah is 52 chapters of prophecy. There are 150 Psalms, and 31 Proverbs. Those three books of the Bible contain a large amount of information. It seems almost impossible to read and understand all of that. Let’s change the perspective. If you read and study one chapter in Jeremiah a week, you will have studied the entire book in a year. If you read one proverb and five psalms a day you will have read through both of those books 12 times in a year. That’s incredible. Let’s go one step further. If you read three more chapters a day, you will read the rest of the Bible in one year. Of course, it is not our goal to just race through the Bible, but does it not seem much easier once you break it down into smaller sections. Take it one day at a time.

It might take you longer to read carefully than it does others, and that is OK. It is important that we take time to understand what we are reading. Developing the habit of reading and studying God’s word, regularly, is vital. It is something I need work on, and I am sure there are others in the same situation as me. If we get in the habit of reading God’s word we will find it to be new and exciting each time we turn the page. What we learn from God’s word will, like other new and exciting things, occupy a special place in our hearts. Let’s get started.