Staggered chapter reading
Note: This is the second in a series on unusual routines to read your Bible. Be sure to check out the rest in the series.
Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible Series
Unusual Routines For Reading Your Bible (Intro)
“3 Verses From 3 Places” Reading
Staggered Chapter Reading
Staggered Chapter Reading
How to do it: Instead of starting and ending on chapter breaks like you’ve been trained to do, start in the middle of a chapter and read through to the middle of the another chapter. It doesn’t matter how many chapters you read (if you’re into reading multiple chapters at a time, great). What matters is that you start in the middle, read, and then end in the middle of another.
Tip: Unlike the first routine, this one works best with story passages, though a few times I’ve found other passages that worked as well. In any case, this routine helps with sequential context, that is, seeing the Bible as it flows from one section to the next. If you’re a little lost in this regard, try this one.
Why it’s helpful: When you read directly through to the next section, you see how one event relates to the next instead of always keeping stories separate in their own little bundles of fun. Often this helps your learn why things happen because your get the story leading up to the story (by reading halfway before the chapter break) and effects of the story (by reading halfway past the chapter break). It’s a little like reading the prologue and epilogue of a novel. The pre- and post-stories might not be crucial, but who wants to miss them if the story’s that good?
Example: Go from the end of 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Samuel 17. Chapter 17 is the well-known story of David and Goliath. As you recall, David comes into the camp, sees Goliath insulting God, and kills him. Rewind to the end of chapter 16, and we see David playing a harp for Saul. Why’s he playing for Saul? To sooth and refresh him, as the Bible says, so “the distressing spirit would depart from him” (1 Samuel 16:23). In verse 22, Saul says, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”
What I learned: That’s exactly what he was doing for Saul when he killed Goliath. He was standing before Saul and keeping the distress away from him, fighting his battles for him in other words. That was David’s purpose at the time. David had already been anointed as king and was already acting like king while Saul technically had the crown. Amazing.
Serving Suggestions:
(1) Try it.
(2) Apply your new perspective. This is the more challenging one. Once you learn something new or see something in a new way, apply that perspective to your life. How are you going to live differently because of it?