His Word Together

Tag: Faith

  • Reading on Vacation

    Reading on Vacation

    I’ve got a trip coming up with my kids, so I’ve been thinking about this myself.

    The easy answer is to just skip it for the week. Vacation is vacation. But I’ve done that before and it’s never just one week. You come back and the rhythm is gone and getting back into it takes longer than it should.

    The readings are short enough that this doesn’t have to be a problem. Twenty minutes or less on the days with passages, five minutes on the others. That fits into most vacation days without competing with anything else. Early in the morning before anyone’s up, or at the end of the night. It doesn’t need a desk or a quiet room. Just a few minutes and whatever you’re reading on.

    The Proverbs chapter takes about five minutes on its own. If that’s all you get on a busy day, that’s fine. It’s not nothing.

    The people who stay consistent through vacations aren’t doing anything complicated. They’re just not treating the trip as a reason to stop, and they’re not trying to maintain some elaborate routine either. They find a small window and use it.

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  • Two Different Things

    Two Different Things

    There’s a difference between knowing what people say about the Bible and knowing what the Bible actually says.

    A lot of people have the first without the second. They’ve heard sermons, read devotionals, absorbed other people’s takes on passages they’ve never actually sat down and read themselves. They have a general sense of what’s in there without much direct exposure to the text.

    That’s not unusual. It’s actually pretty easy to end up there without realizing it.

    This site is set up to close that gap. No interpretive layer between you and the reading. No notes at the bottom pointing you toward a conclusion. Just the text, the same way it’s been read for a long time by people who didn’t have access to anyone else’s explanation of it.

    What you take away is yours. Not someone else’s summary of it.

    That might feel less certain at first. You don’t get a clean takeaway handed to you at the end. But what builds up over time is something different from borrowed understanding. It’s your own.

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  • Read Now. Worry About Expertise Later.

    Read Now. Worry About Expertise Later.

    You don’t have to settle everything before you start.

    If you spend any time looking at stuff like this, people are always arguing over which Bible version is best. Or which one is most true. Or which one is closest to the real thing.

    A lot of them also insinuate that any discrepancies or differences are evidence of a conspiracy to hide the truth from people.

    Maybe they are. I don’t really know enough to say. But if you believe in an Almighty God and that the Bible is His book, it’s probably safe to say He wouldn’t let the truth stay hidden forever.

    If you’re actually looking for the truth, I’d bet He will find a way to make sure you get it. So keep reading. Keep looking. Let Him worry about that part.

    You can think about it the same way some people talk about guns.

    If you spend any time comparing guns online, you’ll see people arguing about stopping power and insisting that owning certain guns is a waste of time because they’re inferior to their favorite.

    But here’s the thing. What actually matters is whether it fits your hand and whether you will carry it. If it’s too bulky or too big for your hand, you’ll probably leave it at home. And a gun sitting at home is worth zero if you actually need it. Compared to the “inferior” gun you will carry.

    Same idea here.

    Even if a translation isn’t “ideal” in some abstract sense, it might be ideal for you. And that counts for a lot.

    If you stick with this, you’re going to read the Bible once a year. Every year. You’re not locked into one version for life. Read one this year. Try a different one next year.

    You might like it better. You might not. You may not even notice much difference.

    Decide for yourself. Pick one you will actually read.

    You can access plenty of translations electronically at no cost. Skip around. Try different ones.

    Just keep reading.

    PS- If you want to buy a physical copy of the Bible, you can find various translations on Amazon at the link below. I earn a small commission on anything you buy after clicking that link. It helps support the site and does not affect your price.

    Buy a Bible here

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