The Secret of Simultaneous Reading

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ible reading, done in a spirit of prayerful submission to God, is dramatically life-transforming. God’s word has the power to change us! Revelation 1:3 pronounces a

blessing upon “he who reads…those things which are written in it.” All you have to do to be blessed is just read the book. Those who understand this truth are personally committed to daily Bible reading.

Additionally, we are assured that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, every portion of the Bible is profitable to the reader. No portion of Scripture should be bypassed or overlooked by those who are anxious to be conformed to the image of Christ. He is the Living Word, and His glory is to be found on every page of the Bible.

Therefore, it behooves us to make a point of reading the Bible in its entirety. I have had a practice for many years now of read- ing through the Bible, and am firmly committed to this practice for one compelling reason: I want every single portion of God’s inspired word to have a chance at my heart. I don’t want a single issue in my soul to remain unmoved because I wasn’t careful to expose myself to the full breadth of His wisdom and revelation. I

The Secret of Simultaneous Reading

expect God to surprise me with insight from what I might have thought to be the most unlikely portions of His word. I want the full package, so I read the full package.

So Bible reading for me is much more than simply the ful- filling of a daily quota. “Whew, I’m finally finished with today’s reading; now I can get on with life.” No, it’s nothing like that for me. Time in the word is the place of change, and I jealousy yearn to expose my heart consistently and routinely to every living, breathing, inspired portion of Scripture.

Someone once said that the most read book of the Bible is Genesis. That’s because thousands of people annually adopt a New Year’s resolution to read through the Bible, they launch with the book of Genesis, and then they lose all their momentum somewhere between Exodus and Leviticus. Many get bogged down because they do not understand the secret I am about to share with you.

One of the greatest keys to maintaining momentum in your daily Bible reading, in my opinion, is the secret of simultaneous reading. What I mean by that is, instead of reading several chapters in one book of the Bible, read shorter portions in four different Bible books on the same day. Although there are many ways this could be done, let me illustrate by explaining my personal regi- men of Bible reading.

I divide my reading into four sections:

• Genesis to Malachi (except for Psalms to Song of Solo- mon).

• Psalms to Song of Solomon

• Matthew to John

• Acts to Revelation

I mark the places I’m reading with four paper clips. The first paper clip marks my Old Testament reading. Since my hope is to get through the Old Testament books in a year, I divide the number of pages in the Old Testament by the number of days in the year, and come up with how many pages I want to read each day. For my size Bible, if I read four pages a day I will easily read the Old Testament in a year. The next paper clip marks my reading in the

Secrets of the Secret Place

Psalms (I average about half a psalm a day.) My third paper clip marks my reading in the Gospels—I read on average two pages in the Gospels each day. The fourth paper clip marks my reading in the Epistles. Since my hope is to get through the New Testament every six months, I have calculated that I need to read two pages in the Epistles each day. (The number of pages you read in each section will depend upon your own personal reading goals.)

Each day I read in all four sections. This provides many benefits, not the least being that the variety keeps me interested and engaged.

The first section, Genesis to Malachi, has some incredibly delightful sections and some harder-to-read sections. By inter- spersing my O.T. (Old Testament) reading with other portions of the Bible, I don’t get bogged down in the tough passages. And every time I read the O.T., I discover something: The tough pas- sages get just a little bit easier because I am slowly coming to understand them more and more with each reading. The Lord has an uncanny way of blessing us most unexpectedly just when we think we’re in the dreariest passage imaginable.

When I come to the second section, Psalms to Song of Solo- mon, my pace of reading slows way down. These books contain the language of love, so most of my prayer time is spent here as I slowly and luxuriantly wend my way through the prayers and praises of the psalmists. Here is where I give the Lord the un- abashed and open affections of my heart.

And I love the third section! It’s in the Gospels that I behold my Beloved, my Lord. I watch how He moves, how He acts, how He talks, how He thinks. My heart aches to know Him better, to truly behold Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. My primary motivation for absorbing myself in the Gospels derives from the words of Jesus, “‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you’” (John 15:7). By abiding in Him and devoting myself to His words, I am knocking on the door of answered prayer. Here are to be found the keys to kingdom power and authority, a door upon which I knock daily.

And the epistles of section four? They’re awesome! I never tire

The Secret of Simultaneous Reading

of reading how the New Testament authors articulate the wonder, beauty, power, kingdom, cross, grace, and coming judgments of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the Bible is a glorious book, and I just love to read it!

It’s the pursuit of Christ in His word that gets me up in the morning. My time in the word is my lifesource and my sanity. This is the place where I receive grace for another day. Yes, I love my daily Bible reading!

I hope you’re catching this awesome little secret. You’ll gain momentum in reading through the Bible by dividing your reading into three or four different sections and reading simultaneously in each section every day.

If you take on this approach, something else will begin to hap- pen. A truth found in section one will appear in your reading that day in section three; a theme from section two will be reinforced in section four. A verse from one section will give freshness, new light, and expanded meaning to a verse in another section. You’ll notice certain themes appearing in multiple places of Scripture. And insights will begin to explode within your heart as verses interplay with each other. This is how Scripture interprets Scrip- ture. The vistas of revelation will begin to expand your heart and ignite your passions. Once this starts to happen for you, you’re hooked! Over the edge. Gone.

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