Beware of the Microwave!

I hope the title of this post hasn't frightened you but I do indeed ask that you avoid at all cost The Microwave. It is subtle and dangerous.

Now I do not mean that apparatus whereby people in the modern culture obtain warm food at alarming and mind boggling speeds. I am referring to much more serious threat- The Biblical Microwave.

A brief glance at most "through the Bible in a year" plans reveals something about the average American Christian- they think of the OT and NT as parallel books. You read X amount of the OT and Y amount of NT each day. And thus we run into the Microwave 

(Begins the scary music and other equally disturbing sound effects.) 

The Bible is a story. It a true story. It is story of the world, from the dawn of creation in Eden to the consummation of  all things with a new and restored Eden. It is amazing how much the beginning of the Bible is echoed in the final chapters. It also amazing how many Christians don't see it.  They compartmentalize the Bible until each verse seems to have its own micro world (hence the "Microwave").

But the Bible is one complete, solid, flowing tapestry, not a patchwork quilt. Can you imagine reading each part of Gulliver's Travels in a parallel manner? You would be reading the story in a way Swift never intended rather than one flowing narrative. The Bible ought to read as a complete story as well.

Now, I'm not saying a Pastor must preach straight through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (though that would be awesome and I intended someday to do so). I'm referring to private Bible reading. At least once, read the Bible this way, starting at the beginning and working toward the end. And don't worry about pacing. Since when should a such a great and mighty Book be "paced" out to "3 chapters today" etc? Read at your own pace, as many chapters as time permits or as you can digest at once (reading the Bible should never be a chore but a pleasure.). And don't worry about cramming into one year- take your time. After all, God wrote the Bible over period of several thousand years.

So again, avoid the microwave.

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