I really love to study the Bible. It is a great passion for me. I can never get away from the awesome thought that we have, in written form, the words, actions, and even thoughts of the God of the universe -- right at our finger tips! Add to that the great privilege to live in the information age where scripture is delivered by every electronic means imaginable with so many reference tools, parallel translators, maps and images, expert commentaries, etc. It can get overwhelming at times just planning where to begin a new study project. I have amassed over the years all kinds of spreadsheets, databases, charts, and documents of my own discoveries based on just observation, studying, cross referencing, etc. It is thrilling to discover new bits and piece of truths along the way.
Despite all this, I must say I am convicted more and more to always remember to just read the Bible -- without all the extra stuff. Sometimes this is when God speaks to us the most. I have for about the past 8 month been forcing myself to simply read a chapter of scripture each day with no agenda -- no stopping to look up something or checking out a place on a map. Just read one chapter of the text and let it fall into my heart where ever it will. This is a good practice I believe and I have already been blessed so much by it. Just the other day I started yet another blog, Once Chapter Each Day to force myself to just stop and read. Almost always now after just reading a chapter of scripture some new impression is made on me which I never had after working on some Bible project related to the very same text. While I will always continue my deep studying and research (because it's so rewarding), I'm learning also that sometimes you just have to stop everything and just read.
