Talking Bible reading and quiet times with Heather Caliri
My blogging friend Heather Caliri is making plans to release her new ebook, Unquiet Time: A Devotional for the Rest of Us, on October 15. As she gets closer to her release date, she’s inviting some friends around the web to share a little of their scripture reading habits and how we approach the Bible. Last week (while I was off celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary) she hosted me at her place, where I shared about how I come to God through scripture and the freedom I’ve found in honoring scripture without using it to feel better about my own performance.
I’d love for you to join me over there! Here’s a little snippet of our conversation:
Do you think everyone should read the Bible every day? Why or why not?
I love scripture. I believe it’s the authority on the character and the story of God. It is the story we are invited into.
Does that mean everyone should read the Bible every day? The Psalms say God’s word is a “lamp to [our] feet and a light to [our] path”…and as such it is a beautiful gift. Do we need a lamp to see in the dark? Yes! But what does that mean? I think there’s freedom there…in how we hold the lamp, etc. The lamp is a gift that can sometimes feel dangerous (fire can burn us). But, how would I know Jesus without it? How would I claim grace without it?
I want to hold scripture as a gift and use as such: a way to encounter the God who is already here, loving and pursuing me. It is not the tool I use to prove my worthiness. It is the gift I receive and long to understand. It is a complicated historical document that must be approached with wisdom. And it is a Great Story of God coming to us and renewing a fragmented world.
So should everyone read the Bible everyday? That’s not the point. The point is the story. The point is what God is doing in the story, right now, in us, in the world.
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Image Credit: Daniel Go