I keep having ideas about what to blog about, but I always forget what they are and I'm usually in the middle of something so I can't write it down. It's frustrating.
Just thought you should know.
But today I want to talk about Bible reading some more. I know I talked about this a while ago, how to read and such, but I want to expand on it a bit. But that I mean give you tools to help you suceed in reading the Bible.
Last time I talked about this my main focus was how when we read scripture, we just see words, we don't see what the words mean when they come together, we lose the meaning of scripture. This is sad. (I'm as guilty of this as anyone else, probably more so.)
But sometimes the issue is not that we aren't truely reading the text, but instead that we don't understand it, or understand where the writer is coming from. Yes, we can tell that Paul is angry, but why? Yes this passage is about peace and reconciliation, but what does that actually mean?
Well there are tools to help us with these types of questions. Now you can either make use of this, if you really want to understand what God is trying to tell you, or you can shove it off, it's really up to you.
The frist tool I would like to give you is this: Multiple translations.
The Bible comes in many different translations, NIV, KJV, NKJV, ESV, AMP, NLT, NASB (these are the most common). If you're reading something in the NIV and don't quite get what is being said, grab another translation, see how that one says whatever you're reading. Grab a few, multiple translations can help you more than you know. A useful thing for this is 1) have multiple Bibles 2)biblegateway.org 3)the YouVersion bible app. All of these will help you in looking at different translations.
The second tool I would like to pass on is: Commentaries.
I've been reading through the Bible in chronlogical order that is the order things were written in, so the Psalms are mixed all through my OT reading. There have been a few times when I get to the Psalms, and I don't know the history that is going on behind it, who is writing it. Sure I may recognize the name, but what's going on in their life to write this Psalm? Enter the commentary. Now of course you can go buy a bunch of commentaries, or you can just search online "Psalm 89 commentary." Now you won't always get a home run commentary, but after searching and consulting a few you can find some good stuff. Also biblegateway.com has commentaries and references as well.
The third tool is similar to the second: Study Bibles.
Basically with study Bibles it's a lighter version of commentaries. They have introductions to every book of the Bible, maps, articles on different topics, and most important, notes on verses. They also have cross referencing, which is basically "This verse relates to this verse. And that verse relates to these verses." And it goes throughout the entire Bible. It's fun to chase the rabbit sometimes.
The fourth and final tool is this: Smart people.
I say smart people because I can't think of anything else to call them. Paul's? Barabi? Wise old people? What I'm getting at is go to a person you respect and can talk to, or even multiple people (get different views) and ask them what this verse, or passage, or book means. What is the author getting at? I see the trees but what's the forrest?
These are the tools I can pass onto you, because they are the tools I have. I hope this helps someone out there. Now go dive into God's Word.
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