I have found delight on the lake whether I am water skiing or jumping off a dock and swimming. I used to enjoy both quite a bit.
 
Both activities are wonderful forms of recreation and both cool you off on a hot day. One brings joy by cutting back and forth across the surface of the water, enjoying the wind and the spray, digging in with a ski. The other brings joy by escaping the heat below the surface of the water.
 
We are not gathering at the lake as a church family but we are delighting in the Word of God this year. We are practicing the spiritual discipline of Bible reading.
 
You could say that we are reading for breadth (Reading Plan) more than depth (Study) as we read a portion of scripture each day. Our plan is to get God’s Word through us over the course of a year. In the above illustration, we are water skiing as opposed to swimming in one spot.
 
Ever wondered if that is okay? Is it spiritual neglect to keep reading through something when we don’t fully understand it? Should we not stop and study? Have you ever questioned, “Am I racing through it just to say that I did it?”
 
Those might be questions that you have asked yourself, especially if you are new to a Bible Reading Plan. Let me be clear that both breadth (Reading Plan) and depth (Study) are important to our walk with Jesus. Both allow us to encounter His grace.
 
If you are caught up in needing to understand everything, you will likely discover that you stop quite a bit to Google a term or read a commentary. Those pauses end up being quite frustrating because they interrupt your reading and can make you want to quit. It’s an honest problem. We sincerely want to know God and understand His Word. But sometimes we work so hard to know God that we make the Word more informational than transformational. Keep reading anyway.
 
Have the mindset that God is at work in you and the parts will help you better understand the whole. You will discover that year-after-year, more and more of the Word makes sense. Even in a given year, you may discover that items from Leviticus are brought to mind by the Spirit as you read Hebrews. Or you think of Isaiah 53 as you read the account of the Crucifixion in the Gospels. And my guess is that you always understand something each day about God and His character, His design of you, or His desires for you.
 
Read for breadth. If you find yourself feeling like you “need to get more out of it,” practice biblical meditation. I have found it to be slowing for me.

But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,
And on His Law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:2

Biblical meditation brings me a healthy balance of breadth and depth. I always understand something from the gospels or Psalms or Proverbs even if I don’t “get” Numbers.
 
On some days, I try to choose one word, one phrase, or one verse of God’s eternal Word from my morning reading. I choose to meditate (chew on, think about, pray through, allow the Spirit to give insight, think of application) on that portion of God’s Word during the day. By immersing myself in the Word of God this way, I find that I get breadth and depth.
 
I encourage you to keep reading. God’s Word will do its work in helping you get to know God and point you to Jesus. If you want to go deeper while reading, then try biblical meditation. After all, even when enjoying an afternoon of water skiing, everyone usually stops to swim.
 
Love and blessings,
Dave