by Rebecca Livermore

Created on: April 01, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

I agree with others who have said that the Bible is boring if you do not know the author. Can you imagine, for example, getting a lengthy letter from someone you didn't know? Would you sit down and eagerly read it, or would you toss it aside out of boredom? I certainly wouldn't spend my time reading a lengthy letter from someone I didn't know and didn't care to know because it would be. . . boring.

However, when you know the author, and you have a wonderful love relationship with Him, you'll desire to read the Bible in the same way you would devour a love letter that is filled with wonderful insight into the one you love.

We certainly get to know the God of the Bible by reading the Bible, but even more amazing and astounding to me is that as we read the Bible, we also get to know ourselves.

The Bible is like a mirror, or a magnifying glass that zeros right into our hearts and reveals what is there. How many times I've been participating in certain activities or even mere thoughts that are not pleasing to God only to have a verse of Scripture come to mind that exposes the ugly nature of my heart, mind, and actions. That can be painful and yet at the same time healing when it happens.

What I love the most about the Bible, however, is the way that it applies to the every day situations of my life. Not just whether or not I should steal or commit adultery. I know that those things are wrong. But amazingly, the Bible speaks to absolutely every aspect of my life.

For instance, I was once grappling with whether or not I should ghostwrite a book. I had never ghostwritten anything before and didn't know if I was even capable of such a thing. Believe it or not, I found the answer to that question in the Bible! Now, you may be thinking, "ghostwriting is not in the Bible!" and you would be right. But the principles that guided my decision are indeed in the Bible. God even gave me a plan of attack for how to work on the book as I spent time reading the Bible.

You see, the Word of God is personal and "alive." It speaks to me each day about whatever it is that I'm grappling with.

I've learned to hear God's voice through my Bible reading in the following way. First, I always read my Bible with a pencil in hand. As I read, I place a little check mark by verses that stand out to me for whatever reason. At the end of my reading for the day (usually a few chapters), I look at the verses I marked and pick one verse to write a few thoughts about. It's amazing to me how often those thoughts that come to my mind follow a pattern and address the same issue over and over again.

When I came to understand that the Bible truly speaks to every aspect of my life and that it is a book that is alive and powerful enough to speak to the decisions and concerns I have each day, the Bible is anything but boring!

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