READING THE BIBLE THE FIRST TIME THROUGH

I'm studying 1 Kings right now in my morning devotions. It takes me back to a time about ten years ago, when I first read 1 and 2 Kings. Concurrently, I was part of a Bible study that was going through the gospel of Mark, and I remember how John the Baptist fancied himself a forerunner for Jesus, an evolutionary Elijah. As I concluded 1 Kings ten years ago and headed into 2 Kings, I predicted to myself (since I was a relatively new Christian and really didn't know a whole lot of what to expect in 2 Kings) that in the same way that my Mark study had revealed similarities between John and Elijah, that my reading of 2 Kings would show similarities between Elisha and Jesus.

Sure enough, as I got into the meat of 2 Kings, themes from Jesus' life, which were fresh from my mind from my group study of Mark, started to pop up in the life of Elisha. There was opposition by mean men, tenderness towards women, and a sense of divine anointing. Even the details of the miracles seemed to run parallel: supernatural multiplying of resources, cleansing of lepers, and resurrecting little children. My heart practically leapt every morning as I read such things, and I even had a little trouble falling asleep at night because I was so excited to wake up and see Jesus in the prophet Elisha.

Alas, ten years later, like many Christians, I don't have such a freshness when it comes to morning Bible study and prayer. Oh sure, there is realness: I have many things I want to bring before God, and there is substance to my desire to truly have an authentic "moment" with my Maker. But there is less zest, and it is not because it has been replaced by a quieter, maturer love. LORD, may every read of Your Word arrest me with affection and seriousness as the first time I read it through.