Bible Bowl

I don't know how I come to a place to forget about this, but I do it more often than I'd care to admit. Even though I do read the Bible all the time...every day, in fact...it is done not for my own nourishment but for others'. I am always thinking of a lesson, a class, a thought, a sermon, or something else to come down the road. The nature of being a minister seems to force me into this mode of reading scripture.

In spite of this, I have recommitted to read through the Bible again this year so that I can find the nourishment I need to minister more effectively in the kingdom of God. The plan I am following this year takes different sections of scripture for each day. Each week I get to read from the epistles, law, history, psalms, poetry, prophecy, and the gospels. The variety is refreshing.

A Chinese friend of mine taught me a Chinese proverb that comes to mind. "In order to give a drink, you need a bowl to draw from." One point of this proverb that I take home is that you need to have plenty of Bible nourishment in the bowl before you can offer even a small drink of Bible to someone else in a class or a sermon or a conversation.

How is your bowl of Bible doing?