Reading The Bible Can Sometimes Take Encouragement

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children." Deuteronomy 4:9,10

One of the things our church is doing in 2008 is encouraging the members to read the entire Bible. It's a challenge, and one which I readily signed up for. I read my Bible daily, but often times I find myself turning to the same books in the Bible over and over. I'll get the idea to read my Bible, and I'll start reading straight through, and then I get to the book of Numbers. And the book of Deuteronomy. Many, many bits in those books are very dry, very boring, and when I read them it's excruciating to me. Many a Bible reading plan has faltered under the spell of Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Today thought I was reading a quick devotional and the light bulb went on about those particular books in the Bible. They are there to remember. Deuteronomy 4:9 says "do not forget the things your eyes have seen." and then instructs the people of Israel to tell their children, and their children's children. So we read today, so as not to forget what God does for his people. We can read for ourselves any day we choose exactly what God did for the Israelites. We can see just how many generations come from one man- according to God's promise to that man. By reading the history, the time that past, we can see how life has changed, but how God stays the same. God makes his promises, and then sticks with them. And he wrote the Bible for us to see that.

Those days when we find ourselves trapped in a portion of the Bible that seems utterly pointless to us, we can know that God put that scripture there for a reason. That reason may be hidden to us at that particular moment, but perhaps a few chapters down the road will shed more light. So don't be discouraged with your Bible reading. If you're reading this, and you've been thinking about reading your Bible more, but aren't sure where to start, here's a handy link for you. Crosswalk.com will help you keep track of what you read, and help you to read the Bible in one year's time. You do need to register, but then they will help you to keep a log of what you've read. That could be very handy for some people. God speaks to you and me through His Word, it's well worth it to take the time to spend in it.