May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord

(2 Peter 1:2)

Bob’s boy

I started this blog last year using my first name in the site’s name, and the title soon changed.  Not because I am ashamed, or because I am afraid of too much spam or anything like that.  I just don’t want this to be about me (OK, so there is an “about Bob’s boy” page).  It is supposed to be all about the Lord.  But I think it is important that anyone who reads the pages on this site knows that they are the thoughts of one man (hopefully, with some comments from others).  I alone am responsible for what I write here.  It does not come from anyone of authority.  It is not approved or endorsed by the shepherds of any church.  And most importantly, being just a man, my words are not inspired.  As with any commentary or blog (or sermon, for that matter), you should always refer to the scripture itself because the bible is the unchanging and unfailing word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).  One thing you can count on is that if I keep saying things, sooner or later (probably the former), I’m going to be wrong about something.  Feel free to point it out to me when you feel that happens.  But be gentle.  I am not thin-skinned, but I can be wounded .

Qumran in the West Bank, Middle East. In this cave the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. In dieser Höhle in Qumran wurden die Schriftrollen gefunden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The primary focus of the blog portion of this site was originally on the Bible reading schedule that I started using in January 2012.  In 2012, we read selected chapters from a schedule that went from Genesis to Revelation, one chapter (or the equivalent) per day, in order to get an overview of the Bible as one story from God.  In 2013, the schedule I am following is focused on the “Wisdom Literature” books of the Bible.  I am planning on writing about Christianity in other ways at this site through that blog (and certainly about other Bible passages).  But since that schedule is currently the primary focus, I wish to be clear that I did not design the Bible reading plan that I am following (I’m not that smart).  You can find schedules for this plan though, oddly enough, on the “Schedules” page.  There are a lot of good reading plans available from a lot of sources; and if you are already using one – that’s great!  If you have never used a reading plan before, but it sounds interesting, I think this schedule is going to prove to be a another really great one!  It is just a chapter a day (or the equivalent), five days per week; and the goal is to help people get “in” God’s word to some extent every day.  But if you cannot read a chapter a day, don’t fret.  Find out what you can do.  If it’s a dozen verses a day, read your 12 verses every day.  Maybe it’s just a half-dozen that you can do, or maybe it’s less.  If you can only read a couple of verses a day, then get in the habit of reading two verses every day.  It is not important to make reading the bible a task for you to cross off your schedule.  What is important is “train” yourself to be reading God’s word every day.  It takes a little time and effort to do that, but if you continue, it will be become one of the few habits you can be glad about.

Why is reading God’s word every day so important?  We need to think of it as spiritual food.  If we do not eat properly every day, sooner or later we will get weak.  If we go long enough without eating, we will die because of it.  We were made to have a relationship with God.  In order to build or maintain a relationship with anyone we must talk to them, and we must hear what they have to say to us.  To grow and nurture a relationship with God, we must talk to him regularly in prayer, and hear him through His word.  We need the nourishment of God’s word both to grow and to keep from becoming too weak to finish the journey to our destination, which is home with the Lord.  The writer of the book of Hebrews, in Chapter 5, and the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:2  speak of God’s word in terms of both milk and solid food – the former referring to the nourishment needed to get us strong enough to be ready to fully receive the latter.  The world is full of people whose lives are empty because they are trying to fill that place in their heart that needs God with everything but Him.

English: The Wisdom of Solomon, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I hope you enjoy reading what I post here as much as I enjoy writing it.  I don’t know where it will go beyond this year, if at all.  This idea started as a simple email to a select few.  Then I realized how much easier (and yes, fun) it would be to do it this way.  And I really like this reading plan.  In 2011, I did the “read the whole bible in a year” plan (and yes, I did manage to stay with it and completely read the Old and New Testaments for the first time in my life).  But I don’t mind telling you that it was very hard for me.  I was determined, and I am so glad that I did it because it did greatly enrich me in 2011.  But when the year was over, the prospect of doing it again in 2012 was really daunting.  So when that year’s plan was presented to me, I was overjoyed and excited – and I am just as excited about the plan for 2013!  I look forward to studying some of the Wisdom of Solomon, the Psalms, the Book of Job – and let’s not forget Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.  I can do one chapter a day – and you can too! I link to the ESVBible.org site for current chapter readings, and for citations.  I make use of their free offering to do so not just because I like the English Standard version provided by Crossway Bibles (I do prefer other versions for some selections), but also because I find their embedded audio links helpful.  Listening to a good reading “counts” when you are trying to get your daily reading done.

Visit the FAQ page for tips and answers I’ll post from time to time – what to do if you’re “behind,” etc.  If you want to contact me (no marketing or other solicitation, please), you can do so on the “Contact” page.

/Bob’s boy

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