Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set by Howard G. Hendricks, William D. Hendricks Page A
Authors: Howard G. Hendricks, William D. Hendricks
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again. I was running as fast as I could. But when I finally got around the track he tapped me again and yelled, “C’mon, Howie. Only three more to go.”
I thought,
Good night, I’m going to die right here!
You see, there’s a vast difference between running sprints and running cross-country. To do the latter you need to develop the kicker, the second wind. You’ve got to prepare for the long haul. So it is with patient Bible reading. You have to develop some stamina, some staying power to hang on with a text until you start to make some progress. Let me suggest a few things to help.
Work with one book for one month
I find that there’s a rhythm to life, and for many of us the cycle takes about a month to six weeks. We can stick with something for about that long, but then we need a change of pace.
In Bible study, five weeks with a book is usually enough time to make some significant headway. In five weeks you can read the book through several times. You can also observe its structure, identify the key terms, investigate the central characters, do some background work with secondary sources, and decide on some practical ways to apply the truths of the book to your life. I’ll discuss all of these tasks in later chapters.
The point is that in a month’s time, you can begin to take ownership of a book of the Bible. One book may not seem like much, but it’s probably one more than you currently understand. And in a year’s time, you can have twelve books under your belt; in five-and-a-half years, you’ll have all sixty-six. Can you believe that you could be less than six years away from having a firsthand grasp of the entire collection of the Bible?
Any book will fit into a five-or six-week study plan, but a few suggestions to get you started are Nehemiah, Jonah, the gospel by Mark, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, James, or 1 Peter. Nehemiah, Jonah, and Mark are “user-friendly” narratives, with plot and characterization. The four other books mentioned are letters to Christians that are short and practical. You won’t have much trouble figuring out what the writers are trying to say.
Zoom in and zoom out
A month may seem like a long time to spend with a single book, but it’s really not that much time. And since there is so much to see in any passage (remember we identified no less than thirty observations from Acts 1:8 alone), you have to settle for limited objectives.
One strategy is to use a zoom lens for your approach. Start with a wide angle. Back off and get the big picture by reading the book in its entirety. See if you can detect a flow in the material, a progression of events or ideas. Then zoom in on something that seems prominent. If you use the month-long approach, spend a week or so on that one event or idea.
For instance, in Genesis, the first eleven chapters sweep through the creation of the universe, the Flood, and the confusion of tongues at Babel. Then the next thirty-nine chapters cover just four generations, led by four men—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. That’s the big picture of Genesis. But some events worth zooming in on are the creation narrative (chapters 1–2), theFlood (chapters 6–10), the sacrifice of Isaac (chapter 22), and Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons (chapter 49).
Once you spend some time on one of these smaller events, you can zoom in even more and study one particular feature in detail. For example, in the creation account, God establishes marriage (2:18–25). This is a passage worth intensive study because the principles established here carry throughout the Scriptures. Jesus refers to this passage (Matthew 19:4–6), as does Paul (Ephesians 5:31). Its presence here also forces you to ask, What place does marriage have in Genesis?
After you’ve zoomed in to study a particular event or concept or word, make sure you zoom back out to recall the big picture. Remember, you don’t want to end up with a lot of disconnected fragments but rather with a
I thought,
Good night, I’m going to die right here!
You see, there’s a vast difference between running sprints and running cross-country. To do the latter you need to develop the kicker, the second wind. You’ve got to prepare for the long haul. So it is with patient Bible reading. You have to develop some stamina, some staying power to hang on with a text until you start to make some progress. Let me suggest a few things to help.
Work with one book for one month
I find that there’s a rhythm to life, and for many of us the cycle takes about a month to six weeks. We can stick with something for about that long, but then we need a change of pace.
In Bible study, five weeks with a book is usually enough time to make some significant headway. In five weeks you can read the book through several times. You can also observe its structure, identify the key terms, investigate the central characters, do some background work with secondary sources, and decide on some practical ways to apply the truths of the book to your life. I’ll discuss all of these tasks in later chapters.
The point is that in a month’s time, you can begin to take ownership of a book of the Bible. One book may not seem like much, but it’s probably one more than you currently understand. And in a year’s time, you can have twelve books under your belt; in five-and-a-half years, you’ll have all sixty-six. Can you believe that you could be less than six years away from having a firsthand grasp of the entire collection of the Bible?
Any book will fit into a five-or six-week study plan, but a few suggestions to get you started are Nehemiah, Jonah, the gospel by Mark, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, James, or 1 Peter. Nehemiah, Jonah, and Mark are “user-friendly” narratives, with plot and characterization. The four other books mentioned are letters to Christians that are short and practical. You won’t have much trouble figuring out what the writers are trying to say.
Zoom in and zoom out
A month may seem like a long time to spend with a single book, but it’s really not that much time. And since there is so much to see in any passage (remember we identified no less than thirty observations from Acts 1:8 alone), you have to settle for limited objectives.
One strategy is to use a zoom lens for your approach. Start with a wide angle. Back off and get the big picture by reading the book in its entirety. See if you can detect a flow in the material, a progression of events or ideas. Then zoom in on something that seems prominent. If you use the month-long approach, spend a week or so on that one event or idea.
For instance, in Genesis, the first eleven chapters sweep through the creation of the universe, the Flood, and the confusion of tongues at Babel. Then the next thirty-nine chapters cover just four generations, led by four men—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. That’s the big picture of Genesis. But some events worth zooming in on are the creation narrative (chapters 1–2), theFlood (chapters 6–10), the sacrifice of Isaac (chapter 22), and Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons (chapter 49).
Once you spend some time on one of these smaller events, you can zoom in even more and study one particular feature in detail. For example, in the creation account, God establishes marriage (2:18–25). This is a passage worth intensive study because the principles established here carry throughout the Scriptures. Jesus refers to this passage (Matthew 19:4–6), as does Paul (Ephesians 5:31). Its presence here also forces you to ask, What place does marriage have in Genesis?
After you’ve zoomed in to study a particular event or concept or word, make sure you zoom back out to recall the big picture. Remember, you don’t want to end up with a lot of disconnected fragments but rather with a
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