More Like Exercise

Tim Challies thinks the Bible reading plan I am on falls into the familiarity (instead of intimacy) model:

I love to grow in Bible familiarity. I appreciate the McCheyne approach of reading the Old Testament once per year and the New Testament and Psalms twice (Or even the Dr. Horner plan of ten chapters per day). This is drinking from the firehose of Scripture, and it is a beautiful thing. There are few better ways to understand the overarching story of the Bible and to see all those connections between Old and New, between shadow and reality, than to read it in this manner.

I love to grow in Bible intimacy. I appreciate the two-verse per day approach to reading the Bible—just a verse or two slowly observed and applied. This treats the Bible like a lozenge soothing a sore throat—something to be slowly savored and not quickly crunched up. There are few better ways to fully understand and precisely apply the Bible than to look deep into its words, to ponder them, and to work them deep into our hearts and lives.

So far for me, and I’m only about three weeks in, reading the Bible feels like exercise. It has become one more thing I need to do. And I need to do it to stay on pace and keep some kind of resolution. This contrasts with previous patterns of Bible reading — which have taken place either in the context of morning and evening family worship, or as part of preparation for teaching or church duties.

I also can’t escape the pressure I used to feel as an evangelical youth to have a daily quiet time. On that model, the Bible felt like a talisman. As long as you touched it once a day, your day would be better. Things go better with God.

Except when too many things — including morning and evening worship — are already going.

(Image: Oleg Yunakov)