His Word Together

Tag: Reading the Bible

  • Nobody’s Explaining It To You

    Nobody’s Explaining It To You

    There’s no commentary on this site. No devotional notes, no “what this really means,” nobody walking you through the passage before you get there yourself. That’s on purpose.

    Most places that talk about the Bible hand you a conclusion before you’ve read the text. A takeaway, an angle, something to agree with before you’ve even started. This site skips that step. You read the passage. That’s the whole interaction.

    Some days it’s clear. Some days it isn’t, and you finish the reading without a tidy point to walk away with. That’s not the plan failing. That’s the plan.

    Working out what a passage means on your own tends to stick longer than being told. No commentary. No agenda. Just the readings.

    If you’d like the readings delivered to your inbox each Sunday, you can sign up below.

    Keep reading.

    Start With This Week’s Readings

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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.

    If you’d like the weekly readings delivered to your inbox each Sunday, you can sign up below.

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    Start With This Week’s Readings

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  • Most Plans Punish You For Missing

    Most Plans Punish You For Missing

    Built-in catch-up days. Streak counters that reset. A schedule that assumes you never skip anything.

    Most Bible reading plans are designed for ideal conditions. Which means they work fine until life gets in the way, and then they don’t work at all.

    The problem isn’t missing a few days. The problem is what the plan does to you after you miss them. It shows you exactly how far behind you are. It implies you need to fix it before you can move forward. And somewhere between the math and the guilt, people just stop.

    This plan doesn’t do that.

    There are no streak counters here. No record of what you missed. If you set it down for a month and pick it back up today, nothing looks different. You just read today’s Proverbs and work through this week’s readings. That’s it.

    What you skipped isn’t gone. The plan runs on a yearly cycle. You’ll come back around to it.

    The goal was never perfect completion. It was staying in it long enough for repetition to do something. You can’t do that if the plan drops you every time real life shows up.

    If you’d like the weekly readings delivered to your inbox each Sunday, you can sign up below.

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  • You’re Not Supposed to Understand All of It

    You’re Not Supposed to Understand All of It

    You’re not going to understand everything you read, and that’s normal.

    You’re reading the words of the Creator of the universe. By definition, you’re not going to grasp all of it on the first pass. Some of it will be clear. Some of it won’t.

    There are a few reasons for that. Sometimes it’s context. You might be reading something that connects to a part of the Bible you haven’t gotten to yet. Sometimes it’s cultural. What was obvious to the original audience isn’t always obvious now. And sometimes it just doesn’t land. You read it and move on without much sticking.

    That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

    I had a reminder of that when my kids found some old cassette tapes. They could tell it had something to do with music from the labels, but beyond that it didn’t make much sense. They didn’t have a frame of reference for how it worked or why it existed.

    They weren’t missing intelligence. They were missing context.

    This works the same way. You won’t get everything immediately, but if you stay with it, more of it will start to make sense.

    That’s the point of the structure here. You’ll come back around to these same passages again. When you do, some of what didn’t make sense before will start to. Not all at once, but enough to notice.

    If something doesn’t click, keep moving. You’re not trying to master it in one read. You’re building familiarity over time.

    If you want the readings delivered each Sunday, you can sign up below.

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  • So When Am I Supposed To Do This?

    So When Am I Supposed To Do This?

    Whenever you will…

    I’ve written about this before, but I still get asked when the best time is to do the readings.

    The short answer is this: whenever you will actually do them.

    Everyone’s day is different. Some people have time at the end of the day. Some first thing in the morning. Some around lunch. The timing matters less than the habit. Doing it at all matters more than doing it at a specific hour.

    For me personally, if I do not do it first thing before anything else gets moving, I usually end up missing the day. It should not be that hard to set aside a few minutes, but you know how it goes. Once the day gets rolling, it has a way of crowding everything out.

    One thing I have noticed about doing it in the morning is how often something I read lines up with what is happening in my life that day. Or something I need to hear. Or something that applies in a way I did not expect.

    The Bible is not just a long list of rules or disconnected stories. When you pay attention to the context, it often speaks directly into real situations. Reading at the start of the day gives that room to settle and carry through whatever comes next.

    That said, if mornings do not work for you, do it whenever they do. Just do it.

    PS- I have not seen many new signups lately. The more people we have reading along, the easier it is for everyone to keep up. There is a social effect to it. I do not spend money advertising this or promoting it anywhere else, so it really does come down to word of mouth. If you are willing to share this with one person who might benefit from it, I would appreciate it.

    Enjoy reading!

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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

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not change the price you pay. It simply helps support the site.