The Dos and Don’ts of Reading the Bible

We live in a world of dos and don’ts. We use them every day: Do brush your teeth. Don’t drive too fast. They seem to impact our lives from minute to minute. Our consciences, our faith, and our knowledge of the world help us manage all the dos and don’ts we encounter. This goes for our relationship with God as well. When reading and applying the Bible to our daily lives, a few simple dos and don’ts will help us bring the Bible more clearly into our daily lives.

Do: Read the Bible frequently, daily if possible.
Don’t: Let your Bible go unread today.
–This one is simple in principle and difficult in practice for many of us. An analogy may help. The Bible is commonly referred to as a love letter from God to his people, the church. But, what good is a love letter when it is rarely opened, read with anticipation, and absorbed into one’s heart and mind? We, as members of the church, as God’s beloved, should relish the opportunity to read God’s love letter one more time.

Do: Focus on the big-picture of the Bible.
Don’t: Get caught up in too many details.
–There is no doubt that some details are important. But, they can become distractions when we fail to see the bigger story of God coming to us.

Do: Read the Bible expecting to encounter God.
Don’t: Read the Bible to prove someone wrong.
–Reading the Bible is an opportunity to commune with God, who made us. It is a chance to find out about who we are made to be and to learn about the one who made us. It is not supposed to be a book of arguments that can be used against someone with whom we disagree. I know from first-hand experience the turmoil that can occur when we use the Bible as a weapon in an argument.

Do: Read the Bible slowly and prayerfully.
Don’t: Read the Bible for dos and don’ts.
–The Bible is not just a book of what we are to do and not do. It is a book about a relationship that God forms with each of us and His pursuit and forgiveness of us. So do read the Bible slowly and prayerfully seek to understand God’s word and live it in your everyday life.

Do: Stop reading when you are struck by a word or phrase.
Don’t: Chug right through until you reach the end.
–The first to reach the end of the next chapter doesn’t get a gold medal. If something affects you when reading Scripture, then stop and reflect on why it moved you.

Do: Use good solid Bible commentaries.
Don’t: Neglect reading the text of the Bible in favor of them.
–The point of using commentaries is to supplement one’s reading of the Bible, not to take the place of it.

Do: Get a good Bible.
Don’t: Get caught up in which translation is best.
–One of the more common questions Catholics ask is “which translation is best?” For most people, the best translation of the Bible is the one you read. However, there are different translations to explore, if that is your choice, with a range of choices. If you want a specific recommendation, I would recommend the RSV-Catholic Edition.

Do: Make changes in your life when challenged by Scripture.
Don’t: Put the changes off for another time.
–Christ is the Great Doctor. Christ’s grace is the medicine He offers us. One avenue of receiving that grace is through reading and applying Scripture to our lives. If we fail to apply it, then it is as if we went to the doctor and were diagnosed with a disease (realized our need for God’s grace); were given a prescription and bought it (read the Bible); but then never took the medicine that could make us healthy again (failed to apply the Bible to our lives).

The Bible is a great gift from God to His people. May all of us take the time to unwrap the gift and share it with others by living it out.

I’ve been on a project of reading the entire Bible through from beginning to end this year (King James Version of course), three chapters at a time. I started with Genesis 1:1 last January 1, and am now on the Gospel According to Luke. So far I have found something to appreciate in every book, but was most struck by the beauty of the Book of Ruth and the strange power of Daniel and Joel among the prophets in the Old Testament. In the New my favorite gospel is still Matthew. But I’m looking forward to savoring the Pauline Epistles as well.

guys, we are on this fascinating thread here discussing Obama & similarity to the Bible’s Anti-Christ.

check it out here!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2126972/posts?page=14

Amazing similarity!

The meaning of 666 and the world I.D. code, etc.

See my research there.
The identity of Political Babylon i Rev. 18.

Coincidental pick of #666 for Illinois lottery one day AFTER his victory...

Do: Focus on the big-picture of the Bible. Don’t: Get caught up in too many details. –There is no doubt that some details are important. But, they can become distractions when we fail to see the bigger story of God coming to us.

Translation: don't interpret the Bible too "literally." Now get out there and combat those liberals like a good "conservative" Catholic should! (It's amazing how ignorant most chr*stians are of how devoted to "details" traditional Jewish interpretation of the Torah is. Even the sizes, shapes, and names of the letters are supposed to be full of meaning.)

Do: Use good solid Bible commentaries. Don’t: Neglect reading the text of the Bible in favor of them.
–The point of using commentaries is to supplement one’s reading of the Bible, not to take the place of it.

Do: Get a good Bible.

Make sure it has a nice, higher critical commentary that tells all about the four sacred authors (St. J, St. E, St. P, and St. D) and that points out that Methuselah could not have lived for 969 years because obviously no one can live that long. Then get out there and fight for transubstantiation!

So long as Catholicism is convinced that it is un-Catholic to read "six days" and think "six days" (among other examples) the Catholic Church is out the window. Stick a fork in her, she's done.

It has to be between the Psalms and Sirach.

Some favorite verses from Sirach:

Chapter 2(DRV):
1 Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.

2 Humble thy heart, and endure: incline thy ear, and receive the words of understanding: and make not haste in the time of clouds.

And from the Psalms:

Chapter 26:(DRV)
14 Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.

Chapter 145:2-5 (DRV)
Put not your trust in princes: 3 in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. 4 His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish. 5 Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

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