Are you a DBR???

Do people still use the term DBR? Are you a DBR? Do you know what a DBR is?

"Daily Bible Reader": A term I heard growing up in church and really wanted to be but was not disciplined enough to carry through with it. I must admit that I lied...in church...about being a DBR....When all the hands around you shoot up silently screaming they are a DBR, my hand would just find itself up in their air silently waving too. I mean, in my heart, I wanted to be one. Didn't that count for something? I mean we always use the term "It's the thought that counts." Doesn't that apply to reading the bible? And before you throw stones, I was in middle school. This was not recent, however I was old enough to know better. So I am proclaiming my wrongs and making a change....

So, last year, I really tried to read the Bible daily. I used an app for my iPhone called YouVersion. I would read their daily Bible verse and then that would lead me to look at other things in the Bible and then I was done. About 20 minutes total. I felt pretty good about it. I also began to read Muscle and a Shovel (on "my books to finish" list) and I would look up the verses they used and study them. I did pretty good, but inevitably something came up and I got off of the band wagon. I must say that when I was doing my little 20 minute reading, although not very long, I did feel like I carried  what the verses said with me. I tried anyway. This also spurred me to start adding positive quotes and verses to the top of my lesson plans in my classroom. I leave my plans on my desk all the time. It is nice to have a positive thought to look at during my busy day.

But in the end I failed! I let other things get in my way and I quit reading the Bible unless it was at church. My bad and negative attitude returned. I knew that this was something I needed to change in the New Year. In my New Year's post my number one commitment was to read the Bible and pray more. No easy task even though it sounds so easy. Just read! But I don't want to just read the Bible. I want to know it. I want to learn it. I want to quote it. I know this won't happen in a year.  I mean I barely have the memory to keep up with my car keys (which reminds me I need to look for them).  I knew that I needed to study it, truly look at the verses, make notes, discuss it...DISCUSS IT! That got me thinking more.

In college, our college minister, Jeremy Harrison, challenged us to read daily. He bought us Bibles, The Daily Bible with commentary by F. LaGard Smith. I got one, and I tried to read it, but when I found the book, the other day, I was only to like April and I think it is because I started reading it around April. Sorry, Jeremy! More than that, Sorry, Lord! I didn't just let Jeremy down, myself down, I let God down. Even worse, It only took me 8 years to pull it back off the shelf. (Geez! I am letting it show I am not perfect!)

So after my blog post the other day, I pulled my copy and Klint's copy off of the shelf. I gave Klint his copy and said, "Will you read with me?" He looked at me surprised and said, "Yeah. What is this about?" I explained to him briefly I wanted to read the Bible in a year. "I need to read the Bible." He agreed to read it with me. This also met one of my other resolutions. I love to read books with my husband because we can discuss them. We have read a few marriage books. We read Dave Ramsey and we read Muscle and a Shovel together (he finished and I didn't). The Bible just seemed natural to read together.

This Bible (I guess it is a Bible, or is it more of a book? Isn't the Bible a book? Confusing!) is written in chronological order. It starts with the beginning of the world and goes on. I tried to approach this with an open mind and just know that it would start with Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heaven's and the earth." (Wrote that from memory, thank you very much!) I was prepared for it to be dry and just blah. I mean the creation story is told to you from the time you are four or younger. If there is any story from the Bible you know, it is that one.

I really did look at Genesis as trying to learn something new. And I did! Genesis is amazing and there is so much I wasn't aware of. The Bible is adventurous, dramatic, romantic, mysterious, and gloriously amazing. The Earth was God's creation. I think about things that I want to create or make, think of and how hard it is and then give up, but God just did it! He created it all! There was an intricate design and plan to everything he set in motion! God is truly amazing and such an unfathomable force! I have just been in awe reading.

Here are a few points that I have noted in my readings:

• Genesis 1:4-7 ~ It didn't rain!!! I had heard in a recent lesson that it didn't rain until Noah built the ark and that was the first rain, but it didn't really make an impression (could be I was wrestling a baby or a preschooler when it was said) until I read how the ground was watered. God caused the streams to bubble up and water the ground. Can you imagine standing in a cotton field (I live in south Georgia, first crop that popped in my head) and thinking "It is kind of dry, God. We could use some water." and a stream bubbling up and watering the ground. I am taking liberties I know, because a) I am sure God would know it needed water, and b) I am sure that a stream didn't just a appear to water the ground. But in my human mind, this is what I pictured. AMAZING!!!
• Genesis 2:23-25 ~ Some of my favorite verses and some I keep close to my heart for personal reasons. Adam said that Eve was "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh for she was taken out of man." The verse goes further to say "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh." The reason I love these verses is because it shows man and woman become one, a team, united against life and they face things together. They are a unit. I am constantly saying that Klint and I are a team. I sometimes feel like he's the other half of my brain (especially when I am looking for my stupid keys...which I still need to find). Decisions about money, our house, our girls, our future are made together. This verse captures that for me! Love it!
• Genesis 4:10-16 ~ Cain has killed Abel and is being punished. As God hands down his judgement, Cain pleads and says it is more than he can take because someone will surely kill him. God shows mercy. He tells him that he will not be killed. This spoke to me in the old saying of "God will not give us more than we can bare." Cain knew he would struggle with his punishment and pleaded that it was too much. God knew that it would be too much he showed his Mercy and marked Cain from being killed. God is merciful! God knows what I can handle! I need to have faith in that and trust in him always!

I had other points I noted, but I want to study them more before I write about them. Mr. F. LaGard Smith does a good job with his commentary. It is pretty neutral so far and just what he thinks. It has really helped me with deciphering what Genesis is about. 

So there you have it. Now the burning question...Have I been a DBR? Unfortunately, I have to say no. I missed two days but I am caught up and will start reading where I should in my reading tonight. Speaking of which  I need to go get to it (and I need to find my keys still :) ).

My favorite saying for now!

Good night and happy reading!