You call yourself an adult?
A Christian family fellowship should surely be able to read and listen to a chapter of the Old Testament and at least half of a chapter of the New Testament every morning and evening. When the practice is first tried, of course, most people will find even this modest measure too much and will offer resistance. It will be objected that it is impossible to take in and retain such an abundance of ideas and associations, that it even shows disrespect for God’s Word to read more than one can seriously assimilate. These objections will cause us quite readily to content ourselves again with reading only verses.
In truth, however, there lurks in the attitude a grave error. If it is really true that it is hard for us, as adult Christians, to comprehend even a chapter of the Old Testament in sequence, then this can only fill us with profound shame; what kind of testimony is that to our knowledge of the scriptures and all our previous reading of them? If we were familiar with the substance of what we read we should be able to follow a chapter without difficulty, especially if we have an open Bible in our hands and participate in the reading.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Bonhoeffer calls me out. Usually I’ll just read a couple of verses for my daily devotion and try to analyze and draw out lessons from there. In response, I’ve been trying to read more than just a few verses for my quiet time. The goal has been to understand the content of the verses but also the context of the verses. I want to see what the verses say but also what they say together with the surrounding context and to identify themes. I’m reading through Luke for my quiet times and what P. John Teter’s still stuck with me, that the letter is to Theophilus and would contain themes that are pertinent to him. Lately I’ve been seeing big linking themes regarding money and the purpose of life and death strung throughout the passages. It’s added a new dynamic to my quiet times and is expanding my knowledge of the Bible. I should push my reading deeply to encompass more than just a few verses.
Shouldn’t I, a self-perceived “adult Christian”, be able to assimilate more than just a couple of verses? I’m just a baby attempting to walk.