Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Challenge, Day 4

Today I finished reading the book of Matthew. I only got in about 15 minutes of reading time, but I still haven't turned on the tv so I'm not getting any more behind. :)

I'm always struck when I read the crucifixion story. Why anyone would love me as much as Christ does is beyond me, but I am eternally grateful. The thing that stood out to me the most today though was this:

If you grow up in a Christian family like I did, you hear all the stories of Jesus all the time - at home, in Sunday School, from books, etc. You know they all flow together from the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But what you don't know unless you study them individually is the beauty of each of the four books individually. Each is written by a different author and brings to the table a unique perspective on the life of Christ. But without all four, we would miss out on some incredible details of His life!

While I was reading, I kept thinking, "But wait, I though this happened next." Then I realized it probably does - it's just left out of this particular book. While many accounts are duplicated in more than one of the four books, some are not. What a wonderful gift of God that we have all four in His Word!

Another reason I love the fact that we have four gospels is that it is another proof that the Bible and the life of Christ are true and factual. Each book was written at a different time, at a different location, by a different man. Yet they all line up perfectly! It is also proof that the Holy Spirit was truly the writer of these books! Since the books were not written while Jesus was alive but rather were written years later, it would seem implausible that the disciples would be able to remember SO many specific details. Yet they recorded detail upon detail upon detail, and all in accordance with the other three books (which, remember, were written at a different time, at a different location, by a different man).

I am really enjoy this week of Bible reading! Not that I don't read on a normal week, but I've been much more consistent this week and I've really enjoyed reading straight through the book of Matthew. Tomorrow morning I will begin in Mark and we'll see where that takes me!

Thanks for following along on my journey! :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Heidi!!
Glad you took the challenge, and I took it too so you aren't alone. Ken is trying, but there are so many sports on TV this week that it's a struggle!! Keep it up, there's so much more value in the Word than in the World! Barb Hansen