Reading the Bible - Part 1 by Ps Michael Podhaczky

Do you find reading the Bible boring or hard work? Have you tried over and over to try to enjoy it like some people say that they do? Well, you are not the only one to have felt this way. It is a common matter amongst many Christ-followers. So, why could this be the case? Over the next few blogs, we will look at a few reasons why this might be so, and some possible things to experiment with that might help in the area.

One reason that has been put forward by many is that the Bible is full of boring history about dead people. Who wants to read about what Abraham, David, Ruth, or even Mary did once upon a time? This is true, they did live long ago and are long dead. However, probably so are our hero/s that we look up to in life. What needs to be remembered is that these were people just like us, with the same needs, emotions, feelings and passions etc. We can read about them and see how they related or didn't relate to God in their moments of success, failure, need or plenty. They are more like us than we imagine. For example, there were liars, cheats and sexually immoral people. Some suffered from unbelief, physical and mental fragility, anxiety, and even suffered from loneliness. Then we can read about those who could not have children, who were mistreated, raped, and those who had family members die in horrible circumstances etc.

An example of this is Elijah, the mighty prophet of God. He was used powerfully by the Lord. When he prayed for the rain to stop, the rain stopped. He prayed again three years later for the rain to fall, and the drought broke.

“Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” (Jas 5:17 ESV).

However, he ran away from the queen in fear of his life, fell into depression and wanted to die.  Even though God hadn't let him down, see 1 Kings chapters 17-19. We can take comfort in the truth that these people recorded in the Bible were as human and as broken as were are. They needed God to help them as much as we do.

Pause in His presence for a moment and think this over…