Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set by Howard G. Hendricks, William D. Hendricks
Authors: Howard G. Hendricks, William D. Hendricks
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a Psalm at night. That would take you through the entire Psalms almost five times in a year. Or read a chapter of Proverbs every day—the entire book every month. Or concentrate on one book for one month: a chapter of Ephesians or Galatians every day on Monday through Saturday, four times; or a chapter of 1 John every day for thirty days.
You can devise your own schedule for completing these books. Or come up with a plan of your own. The point is, devise a way to help you mark your progress. If you’re a person who needs structure or who likes to achieve goals, this is a great way to read Scripture repeatedly.
Are you convinced of the value of repeated Bible reading? Here’s an exercise to dispel any lingering doubts: Read through the entire Old Testament book of Esther once a day for seven days in a row. It should take about half an hour or so each day. Use some of the suggestions in this chapter, such as reading it in different versions, reading it out loud, or perhaps even listening to it on audiocassette. Of course, you should also use the other skills of Observation I mentioned earlier. See how many new things you can see on each successive day. Make a list of your observations, or record them in your Bible. At the end of the week, see if you can reconstruct the story clearly and accurately by telling it to someone else. Also, what insights have you gained from the story?
CHAPTER 10
R EAD
P ATIENTLY
T here’s an old saying that nothing good happens fast. I don’t know if that’s altogether true, but it does have some bearing on Bible study. Unless you’ve got highly developed habits of reading, it is unlikely that you can just dip into the Word for five minutes and come away with much of significance. In fact, highly skilled readers devote a lot more than five minutes to the task. They’ve learned to approach Scripture using the third strategy of first-rate reading:
R EAD THE B IBLE P ATIENTLY
That’s a hard assignment for most of us. We live in an instant society. The things we used to want tomorrow, we now want right now. And the things we used to need right away, we now need yesterday. So it’s no surprise that if we do decide to open our Bibles, we expect results instantly and effortlessly. If we don’t hit the jackpot in short order, we’re liable to get very frustrated, very quickly.
But the fruit of the Word takes time to ripen. So if you are the least bit impatient, you’re liable to bail out early and miss out on a rich harvest. Many people do that. They get disillusioned with the process. Perhaps theyare looking for entertainment rather than enlightenment. People tell me, “Look, I tried to read the Bible, but it’s like plowing through concrete.”
Others give up on the biblical text and turn instead to secondary sources. The moment they think they are in over their heads, they make a mad dash for a commentary to find out what some other significant saint has to say about the passage. In the process, they ruin the experience. In my judgment, people who do that quit too soon. They are usually right on the verge of pay dirt when they go to secondary sources. There’s nothing wrong with the use of secondary sources—after you have drenched your mind with what the biblical text says.
I N I T FOR THE L ONG H AUL
When I was in college I ran track. I ran low hurdles, which makes sense since I’m built close to the ground. In those days a man named Gil Dodds was the world’s indoor mile champion. He used to come over to the school a lot, and we built a close friendship.
I’ll never forget the first time I met him. We were standing on the track when he tapped me and said, “C’mon, Howie. Let’s go around.” So I took off. I found myself several paces in front of him, which puzzled me. I thought,
If you’re supposed to be the world’s indoor mile champion, why don’t you run a little faster?
What I didn’t realize was that he was planning to go around
You can devise your own schedule for completing these books. Or come up with a plan of your own. The point is, devise a way to help you mark your progress. If you’re a person who needs structure or who likes to achieve goals, this is a great way to read Scripture repeatedly.
Are you convinced of the value of repeated Bible reading? Here’s an exercise to dispel any lingering doubts: Read through the entire Old Testament book of Esther once a day for seven days in a row. It should take about half an hour or so each day. Use some of the suggestions in this chapter, such as reading it in different versions, reading it out loud, or perhaps even listening to it on audiocassette. Of course, you should also use the other skills of Observation I mentioned earlier. See how many new things you can see on each successive day. Make a list of your observations, or record them in your Bible. At the end of the week, see if you can reconstruct the story clearly and accurately by telling it to someone else. Also, what insights have you gained from the story?
CHAPTER 10
R EAD
P ATIENTLY
T here’s an old saying that nothing good happens fast. I don’t know if that’s altogether true, but it does have some bearing on Bible study. Unless you’ve got highly developed habits of reading, it is unlikely that you can just dip into the Word for five minutes and come away with much of significance. In fact, highly skilled readers devote a lot more than five minutes to the task. They’ve learned to approach Scripture using the third strategy of first-rate reading:
R EAD THE B IBLE P ATIENTLY
That’s a hard assignment for most of us. We live in an instant society. The things we used to want tomorrow, we now want right now. And the things we used to need right away, we now need yesterday. So it’s no surprise that if we do decide to open our Bibles, we expect results instantly and effortlessly. If we don’t hit the jackpot in short order, we’re liable to get very frustrated, very quickly.
But the fruit of the Word takes time to ripen. So if you are the least bit impatient, you’re liable to bail out early and miss out on a rich harvest. Many people do that. They get disillusioned with the process. Perhaps theyare looking for entertainment rather than enlightenment. People tell me, “Look, I tried to read the Bible, but it’s like plowing through concrete.”
Others give up on the biblical text and turn instead to secondary sources. The moment they think they are in over their heads, they make a mad dash for a commentary to find out what some other significant saint has to say about the passage. In the process, they ruin the experience. In my judgment, people who do that quit too soon. They are usually right on the verge of pay dirt when they go to secondary sources. There’s nothing wrong with the use of secondary sources—after you have drenched your mind with what the biblical text says.
I N I T FOR THE L ONG H AUL
When I was in college I ran track. I ran low hurdles, which makes sense since I’m built close to the ground. In those days a man named Gil Dodds was the world’s indoor mile champion. He used to come over to the school a lot, and we built a close friendship.
I’ll never forget the first time I met him. We were standing on the track when he tapped me and said, “C’mon, Howie. Let’s go around.” So I took off. I found myself several paces in front of him, which puzzled me. I thought,
If you’re supposed to be the world’s indoor mile champion, why don’t you run a little faster?
What I didn’t realize was that he was planning to go around
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