Reading is supposed to be a joy, and reading the Bible can be a joy as well. Seaside Story, original painting by Steve Henderson, sold. Licensed open edition prints at Great Big Canvas, ICanvasART, Framed Canvas Art, and Light in the Box.
Christianity is all about being honest, and if most of us were honest with one another — say, about reading the Bible — many of our conversations would look like this:
“I know I should read the Bible, but I really don’t. It bores me. It’s too hard to read.
“But I do listen to the sermon every Sunday, and the pastor talks about a passage out of the Bible.
“And I got a little devotional that gives me a verse or two at the top, and then explains it. I do that, and it’s okay.
“Do you think God’s mad at me?”
We spend a lot of time worrying about if God is mad at us. In a Father/Child relationship on earth, this would be considered dysfunctional, but within Christianity, it is the unfortunate norm.
No, God isn’t mad at you because you don’t read the Bible, but He does want you to read it for the simple reason that you can’t know who He is and what He’s like unless you get to know Him through this Book He gave us. If you’re not into reading it on a regular basis, let’s make it easier:
Yes, this is where we stop and I send you in a link to the rest of the story, Bible Reading 101 at my BeliefNet Blog, Commonsense Christianity. I am unable to print the whole article here, so humbly request that you hit the link and finish the article.
This article is linked to Raising Homemakers, Wholehearted Home, My Daily Walk, A Little R and R, We Are That Family, Makeover Motherhood, Crystal and Company, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Ducks in a Row, This Girl’s Life, Cherished Bliss, My Disorganized Life, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Joy Dare, Moms in the Word, Table for Seven, A Peek into My Paradise, Tuesday Link up, Graced Simplicity, Thriving Thursdays, Hope in Every Season, I Choose Joy, Thrive at Home Thursday, The Deliberate Mom, Growing in Grace, A Handful of Everything, Mom on Demand, Faith Filled Friday, Heart Filled Friday, Essential Things, Family Fun Fridays, Freedom Fridays, Friday Blog Hop, A Look at the Book,
This Woman Writes by Carolyn Henderson 
“We spend a lot of time worrying about if God is mad at us. In a Father/Child relationship on earth, this would be considered dysfunctional, but within Christianity, it is the unfortunate norm.” — Yep, you hooked me there! Love it, and I’m headed over to check out the rest of the story! Thanks for linking up at the Homemaking Party!
Thank you, lostinvalonor. What church edict-makers cannot, or refuse to, get is that people long for REAL. And what can be more real, and more worth wanting, than a genuine, loving relationship between a parent and child? It’s there, and we don’t have to be taught, from the pulpit, how to find it. We find it by asking God, and waiting — with impatience or patience — for the answer, because it will come.
Ooooh, looking forward to reading the rest of this one too! I encounter this often in conversations with others.
I am glad — especially that you encounter this in conversation with others. We should be talking about this, and not pretending that we’re above it all!
True. To know God and what He likes and does not like we must read the bible. Thank you for this post. 🙂
You are welcome, Starla. It’s a painfully obvious observation, but not an easy one for people to incorporate into their lives. I figure that, when people don’t do something that is good for them, it’s reasonable to find out why, as opposed to attacking them and scolding.
Can you imagine how different things would look if all the people who said they were Christian read the Book and allowed God to help them to do what it says?