You Ask, I’ll Answer: Response 4. (you can still ask questions! anything is fair game.)

Kelly asked, “Do you have a bible study you use/ How do you maintain a close walk?”

I wish I had a great, holy answer to this, but it’s more like a confession: I suck. I’m trying to not suck, but frequently, I do. And then I feel guilty about it. (Satan: 2. Jesus: 0.) Sometimes it seems like, no matter how much I plan to be in the Word, it always gets put off (“oh, I’m running late…I’ll spend time in the Word later…”), lost in the noise, or forgotten about. And you know what? That’s lame. Definitely not giving my best to Jesus.

As an English teacher I end up reading lots of things over and over and over again. For example, I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird more than 40 times. Aloud. Good book, but no eternal significance. One day I was trying to remember how many times I’d read that book, and was suddenly disgusted: I can’t even count how many times I’ve read a human-authored novel, but I haven’t read the infallible, God-inspired, living Word in its entirely even once. Granted, there are parts of it I’ve read many, many times, but not the entire composition, page-to-page. But I want to.

In self-evaluating my previous Bible study, it’s very disjointed. I know lots of little stories and segments of events that took place, and a pretty decent amount of the principles outlined in the New Testament, but I don’t feel like I have a good grasp on the story of God’s people as a whole. I’m terrible at memorizing historical facts, probably because I spent so many years memorizing things for tests and forgetting them…but the problem is that now I WANT to retain knowledge. I’m literally praying for retention, because I want to get the whole big picture.

So, with that being said, I have a new plan. I’m starting with Isaiah, and reading one chapter at a time. That’s everything, including sidenotes and footnotes, looking up words I don’t know. As I’m reading, I’m writing a one-paragraph summary of each chapter. That way, when I read again the next day, I go back and re-read my summaries before tackling new material. I’m also writing down what God is revealing to me through each chapter. I’m hoping that, when I finish Isaiah, I can go back and read my 66 paragraphs and have a solid understanding of the book of Isaiah as a whole. It’s so easy to look up a story or a passage I’ve heard of for specific comfort or to prove whatever I’m talking about – but that alone is dangerous. I want to know God’s cohesive love story as it’s unfolded throughout the ages…and then live out that story as it continues to unfold in my life.

I can pretty much tell you what happens in every chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. And, one day, I hope to know that much about Scripture…not just for the sake of knowing it, but so it can continue to radically change my life and the lives of those around me.