Do any of you listen to Radio 1? Well, last week Zane Lowe played 4 of his ‘masterpiece’ albums. This is when he plays a whole album straight through, no talking, no mixing up the order, just a whole album straight through.
I am not a music buff, so I do not really get excited about this idea as such, but listening to Zane talk so passionately about his love of music the other morning got me thinking… What way do we read the bible?
It is really easy to focus on just small parts of the Bible, whether a passage or a verse, but forget where these stories come in context. After all the Bible is an epic, a masterpiece! God’s story, as told in these 66 books is just amazing, there are so many characters, so many mini stories, so many settings, so many twists and turns … it is sometimes easy to forget the big picture.
If you search online there are lots of different summaries of the Bible, so go and have a look… but why not start simply by reading one book. Perhaps in the run up to Christmas you could read the story of Jesus’ birth all in one go? This is easy to find as you just have to look at the start of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then ask yourself some questions:
- Are you surprised at how different each account is?Â
- What does what they include say about each writer?
- Is there more or less detail than you expected?
- Are you surprised about what comes straight after the accounts of his birth?
- Do we sometimes take this story for granted?
- What else really struck you about these stories?
(Tell us what you discovered in the comment place below!)
I have always found that when I am reading a big chunk of Scripture like this, that ‘The Message’ is a good version to read, as it flows more like the kind of novel that I am used to reading.  You may not like The Message and prefer the NIV, Good News or Youth Bible. Whatever you prefer, you can find them all for free to read on screen at www.biblegateway.com
So you have no excuses! Go on and grab a Bible and read a big chunk of Scripture this Christmas, you will be amazed at what God reveals to you!
 Sarah 