Picking up the Bible can be an intimidating task.
It’s encapsulates over 60 books, spanning multiple genres, in a context vastly different from ours.
It’s so vast, we’re left asking, “how do we read it?”
Usually people follow 1 of 2 paths.
2 Paths of Bible Reading
On path 1, we don’t touch it.
The Bible stays domesticated, constrained to our living room bookshelf or forgotten in our nightstand. It’s too foreign to comprehend or too big to try.
On path 2, we take the opposite approach.
We dive in like a child who just learned to swim and can’t get enough time in the pool. We study the Scriptures multiple times a day, listen to sermons in our drives, and read books to enhance our knowledge.
If path 1 is total abstinence, path 2 is a kind of holy gluttony. The intensity of it keeps those on the first path from touching the sacred script. Forget jumping into the deep end. On path 1, we’re overwhelmed by the kiddie pool!
But what is there’s a middle ground between these two extremes?
A middle passage way to approaching Scripture?
Fortunately, there is.
Manna in the Wilderness
This middle path comes to the Bible like its manna.
During the wilderness sojourn of Israel, every morning a strange substance would appear on the ground with clear instructions for use. “Everyone is to gather as much as they need.” (Exodus 16:16). At the end of the day, what wasn’t eaten melted away. Not knowing the nature of this provision, the Israelites named it Manna. Which means, “what is it?”
Manna was a strange bread that provided its consumers with exactly what they needed—enough food to make it one more day.
It was something you couldn’t have too little or too much of. In God’s kindness, he provided the right amount every day.
Our Daily Bread
In this middle path, we come to the Bible like Israel wondering in the desert.
Not seeking holy gluttony but not satisfied with abstinence, we come to Scripture seeking just enough for today.
Just enough to encounter Jesus.
Just enough to be encouraged.
Just enough to find the hope and courage we need.
Not too little and not too much.
Just what we need for today.
We come to the Bible not asking for PhD level knowledge, not trying to wrap our minds around all that we can or read as much as we can. We come to the Bible, humbly asking the LORD to “give us this day, our daily bread” (Matt 6:11).
And we come believing like the widow pleading her case day after day before the unrighteous judge.
Surely we’ll receive our reward (Luke 18:1-8).