Welcome to the tenth edition of "Question of the Week"...please answer in the comments OR write a blog post of your own and leave me a link to your answers! Feel free to borrow the graphic as well.
Let's talk firsts. Do you remember your first bible? How old were you? When did you begin reading the Bible? Do you remember liking it? loving it? finding it too frustrating? too boring? too intimidating? Have your feelings changed through the years?
My answer:
I had several Bible-storybooks growing up--including a Jesus comic book, a series of Arch books, etc--but my first actual Bible...I received when I was about eight. I had just turned eight--I guess it was about a month after my birthday. It was a Living Bible. The Children's Living Bible. The first book of the Bible that I ever read was the Gospel of John.
I remember loving it. I carried it with me everywhere--church, school, the doctor's office (I went there a lot.) There was this aliveness about it all. How much I loved it. Reading some of the Old Testament in addition to the New Testament. There were still plenty of books that intimidated me--Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Job, Ezra, etc.) But the ones that intimidated me most were probably the OT prophecy books. But I just loved the history books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. Loved the stories of David. And Elijah and Elisha. I found some books boring--Leviticus, anyone?--but I found some books to be just exciting.
It took a while, but through the years I expanded and grew. I would venture forth into unknown territory like Leviticus and Jeremiah. By the time I was graduating from high school, I was ready to go there. I discovered all that the Old Testament had to offer. But that was ten years later...after my first adventures in the Word. So if you're not ready to go there, if you're still intimidated by some of these books, there's no shame in that. So yes, my feelings about the Bible deepened and changed throughout the years. I came to appreciate it more in many ways, but I still wish for some of the fervor of my younger days when everything was so new, so fresh, so wonderful, so amazing to me.
1 comment:
The first Bible I remember reading daily was the Living Bible given to me in the mid 70's. Back then that was the only other popular translation beside the KJV. I remember enjoying it a lot. (If my folks had given me a KJV, I don't know if I could say that.) I'm not against the KJV. I grew up hearing it and memorizing it in Bible clubs. But when I was fifteen and decided to have daily devotions that was not the Bible I was given.
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