"S" is for ...

"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul ..." (Deuteronomy 11:18a)

S is for ... settling into God's Word. I hope this photo isn't too sacrilegious. While doing my Bible study the other morning, I took a bathroom break and came back to find this boy quite comfortably settled into my Bible. It was a very real (and heavy, and furry) block to my ability to focus on my Deuteronomy reading for the day.

S is also for study, which is what I managed to do that morning, despite the big, purring distraction.

I've read through the Bible a couple of times in the past: first as an atheist who was trying to see if there was anything to this book that it seems most Christians have never even read, and then as a new Christian (or as a Christian with a deconstructed and then reconstructed faith). For that second reading, I followed the M'Cheyne plan, starting in November 2019 and finishing in June 2020. (Obviously I read more each day than was prescribed by the plan.) 

And now I'm in my third reading, using the Bible Recap with our dear old blog-friend Anh. In my first reading, I found Genesis fascinating, Exodus pretty good, and Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy mind-numbingly boring. In my second reading, I was again riveted by Genesis, and also by (most of) Exodus. Leviticus wasn't as boring as I'd remembered, which was nice. But then I found Numbers and Deuteronomy a snooze-fest. I couldn't wait to finish those.

And this time? I have loved every single one of these five books. And, surprise of surprises, I've found that I love God more and more each day that I study them. I did not expect that. I knew this reading would be good for my brain, but I didn't expect it to soften my heart in this way.

I think this is one of the results of allowing myself to settle into God's word--not for a few dozen Sundays a year, not for a convenient verse here and there, or even for a 6-week Bible study, but for morning after morning after morning, for a whole year now. Settling implies slowness, and a sense of staying somewhere for a while. It's not about what I can take from the Bible and apply it to my life; it's about how I can apply my life to the study of the Bible. It's about settling in and letting the Bible change me.

I'm a little sad that I'll be finishing up Deuteronomy, and the Pentateuch next Saturday. I've so enjoyed reading it and learning more about God's character through these stories of beginnings. Lucky for me, there is still a lot to read. There's still a lot to come.