How do you read your Bible? 

“Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai…” Esther 2:5 

Alistair Begg, retired Scottish pastor, comments on this intriguing verse in a sermon series on the book of Esther, “This is a great sentence. I really, really like it. Actually, it is a half-sentence. It makes me want to read on. Who is this guy, Mordecai? What is he doing? What kind of name is Mordecai? Where is Susa? What is a citadel?” (paraphrased for this essay) 

Begg wants Christians to be less like Sunday liturgists and more like readers who are comprehending.

 Today, it is popular to study the Bible. Sometimes I find myself tackling my own Bible reading as a project to master: analytical, mechanical, disconnected from prayer, an achievement to attain each week. Read it, answer the questions, be prepared. 

These are the confessions of a serial Bible study gal. I am guilty of racing through chapters, outlining, categorizing, and searching through commentary. In the pursuit of information, I fail to be personally addressed by God. 

However, if I allow it, I begin in a manner of study, but loosen the grip, and then, as I read a metaphor or figurative language, it actively seizes my imagination, and I attempt to untangle the words; I must enter into what is there and what is not there. What does it mean? What does it say and what does it not say? Slowly, a transformation occurs and a guy named Mordecai grabs hold of me and takes me to Susa…

Prayer: 

“When your words came, I ate them; they were joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.” Jeremiah 15:16 

 (This one verse inspired Eugene Peterson  to write “Eat This Book”, a book challenging readers to investigate Scripture on its own terms.)