What are we doing here?

I probably should have explained this before we got started, but I think you need to know what my goal is through The Connecting Point. It is to blog through the entire Bible. Our core conviction here at Skycrest is that the Bible contains the life transforming message of God. Therefore, we should read and heed its message. Each week I hope to write about some of the things that God is teaching me as I read through the Bible.

Early in my committed journey, I read a forgettable book that presented an unforgettable scenario.

The author led the reader to imagine their first discussion with God after moving on to heaven. I think the scene was a walk with God on the beach. In this discussion God asks the question, "What did you think about my book?" We are led through a compendium of possible responses ...

1. It was always with me--in the back of my car
2. It provided good decoration for my coffee table
3. I enjoyed the stories in Sunday School
4. The red writing was riveting
5. My mom sure seemed to enjoy it and get something out of it

I think the writer led God's discussion companion to go with, "I loved to hear and read about it from great teachers." God pointedly responds, "I want to know what you thought of it. I wrote it to you. Did you read it all the way through?"

At the time I read that book, my honest answer was no. I had not really read the Bible from cover to cover. I believed that it presented God's truth and wisdom. I believed to the core of my being, that as God's Word, it would be a dependable guide for the kind of life I desperately wanted to live. But the truth was, regardless of what I believed, I had not read His Word to me. So I resolved to read the Bible all the way through.

I chose to follow the plan laid out in the Ryrie Study Bible. It is basically a chronological journey through the Bible that puts events together. For example, when you read about Jesus feeding the 5,000, you read all four corresponding accounts on the same day. So with this plan, you don't read straight through from Genesis to Revelation, you jump around, generally reading the story of God as it occurred in real time.

As I blog through the Bible, I am using this same plan. So if you are following closely and you wonder why I jump from Genesis to Job, that's the reason.

I am already behind on getting through it in a year, but that is not the most important thing. What really matters is that when you read scripture you slow down long enough to hear from God. Life is not a series of to-do lists for God, it is a journey with God.

Tomorrow I hope to begin writing about God's servant Job. I have to admit that Job is one of the books that gives me fits. Not a lot of confidence going in, but a whole lot of dependence upon God for understanding. So I think it is safe to say that I am right where I need to be.

Question for you: Are you prepared for that walk on the beach with God? What would you say to him about his book?

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3