How the reading goes on our end.

I wanted to give you an idea of what "Bible reading" looks like on our end  - this is a fairly typical setup for us: 

…We try to eat supper together every night, and we usually hit that target.

…After supper, I might take a nap (to help with my mental presence and clarity) and the wife might do a little “alone time” to accomplish the same thing.  The kids are finishing up chores or schoolwork or other projects/hobbies of the day, or just hanging out and having a little free time.

…We come together to read the assigned chapters.  Tonight it was Genesis 1-3.  In our group, the wife usually reads the first chapter, and then others take a turn (we try to let the kids read when we can).  After reading a chapter, we ask if anyone has comments, questions, etc., and then we move on to the next chapter.

I’d say we hit the assigned reading between 50%-70% of the time.  Some days we don’t read all of the chapters.  Some days we don’t read any of the chapters.  Some days some of our folks are nodding off during the discussion while others might be “not into it”.  But we try, and we’re not dictators about participation and hitting the goal every single day “or else”

Some interesting topics and questions that came up for Chapters 1-3:

• Who was the one who actually created everything?  (as far as we can tall, it was “the Father”)
• Were the days longer that first week?  (there’s no indication they were)
• When was Eve created?  (all present evidence points fo “day six”)
• We briefly discussed a fairly common church doctrine that says our Holy God cannot tolerate sin in his presence,  Some might even use Genesis 3 to support this position (that’s why Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden).  But….that cannot be a true thing, because God came to the garden and spoke with them after they sinned.  And then continued to interact with their sons and their descendants “in person” after all of this.  Something to consider.

But the big takeaway for me is from Chapter 2 - this has been on my mind for months now, and I just wanted to share a verse and a thought with you:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it

Genesis 2:15, ESV

God has, since literally the beginning of everything - been about bringing people out of this world to live & work in his presence, in a place that he’s prepared for them (us!).

It’s my hope, my prayer for us and our families that this year we will recognize that he’s still calling us - here in 2023 - to come away from the world and be his set-apart people, living in community with Him, according to his instructions, both in and on our way to a place that he’s preparing for us.  It’s a metaphor, to be sure, and they all break down at some point, but I think you can get where I’m going.  And I bet you’ll see that along the way as we read the Word together with our people, and (in some way) with each other, too.