Enjoy!

This weekend, I learned something about myself that is life-changing.  I learned that I have been approaching the Bible all wrong.  In the past, I would read the Bible out of obligation, I would read to feel guilty about myself, or I would read because I wanted God to reveal something to me.  These are all terrible reasons to pick up the Word of God.  This weekend, I was invited to actually try to enjoy the Bible.  The concept of reading for enjoyment is Greek to me, so this was a very hard step to take.  I have made an effort to no longer look at the Bible as a textbook I have to read, a get out of guilt free pass, or a way to make my life better.  I simply want to enjoy the Word of God.  

Let me be the first to tell you that this is entirely possible! I am starting to look forward to my daily quiet time.  Its not a chore anymore.  I am hopeful that this attitude will lead to a deeper and longer devotional time as time goes on.  I cannot explain the reasons behind my sudden change in attitude, I can only point to Jesus, because this is what I've been praying for for a long, long time.  

I am super excited to share with you all what I learned the other day.  I don't know why I never learned this in Sunday School growing up, but it is one of the coolest things that I have learned about the Bible.  If you have a Bible, go get it! Turn to Genesis 5.  No really, I'll wait for you...

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Is this chapter familiar to you? Of course not! Who wants to read a bunch of boring genealogies? What could God possibly teach me in this chapter? If you are like me, then you would have bypassed this whole chapter and went right to the story of Noah.  But lets take a look at the line of men from Adam to Noah.  Bible scholars that are a lot smarter than me figured out the meanings of each man's name in their culture and time, and here is the result.

Adam-Man

Seth-Is Appointed

Enosh-Mortal

Cainan-Sorrow

Now pay attention, this is where it gets fun.

Mahalalel-The Blessed God

Jared-Shall Come Down

Enoch-Teaching

Methuselah-His Death Shall Bring

Lamech-The Despairing

Noah-Comfort

"The blessed God shall come down teaching his death shall bring the despairing comfort."

What? Are you telling me that the genealogy from Adam to Noah points directly to Jesus Christ?  It is fun to read the Bible when you know that every story, every word points to Jesus somehow, and why shouldn't it be? In John 5:39, Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures (old testament), for in them you think you have eternal life: and these are they which testify of me".  That means that the old testament has Jesus written all over it! I invite you to search with me.

Well, I have began a new regimen for reading and would like to invite you to join me if you have no previous direction or method of reading the Bible.  Right now, I am reading two chapters a day of the old testament, new testament and Psalms/Proverbs.  That's six chapters a day.  It takes a slow reader like myself about twenty minutes to do this.  

I pray that you, too, will start enjoying your Bible more.  God knows you inside and out, and like I said in a previous post, He wrote it for you! He wrote it for your enjoyment.  Please pray for me as I am fearful that this enjoyment will dwindle away like many other Christian experiences that I have had.  I want this to be permanent!