Barbara Brabec’s
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Personal Musings about Life

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April 2024

The Importance of Reading the Bible

My first cover-to-cover reading of the Bible
was life-changing for me.

“If you have read the whole Bible, you are in a small minority of Christian people,” says R.C. Sproul in his book, Knowing Scripture:

“If you have studied the Bible, you are in an even smaller minority. Isn’t it amazing that almost every American has an opinion to offer about the Bible, and yet so few have really studied it? Sometimes it seems as though the only people who take the time to study it are those with the sharpest axes to grind against it. Many people study it to find possible loopholes so they can get out from under the weight of its authority.”

I've heard several pastors and Bible teachers confirm that most Christians have never read their Bibles all the way through, and when they do read, they read only snippets from the New Testament. But as a new Christian, my first thorough reading of the Bible gave me new perspectives on life, death, and my relationship with God, and most importantly, with his Son. It convinced me that I had to make Bible study an important part of my life as long as I lived.

As an avid reader of fiction, I found the Old Testament fascinating, filled as it is with stories as full of intrigue, sex, and violence as today’s soap operas and popular fiction. I don’t mean to sound flippant about this because the lessons in the Bible are serious ones. As you read the Old Testament, you will find yourself thinking of people you know today who seem very much like those portrayed in the Bible. As King Solomon wrote in Ecc. 1:9, “There is nothing new under the sun.” People in Bible times had of the same kind of problems, challenges, and personal hangups that affect people today, and what happened to each of these people will tell you a lot about what’s happening to people today—maybe even to you. Ah, yes, Scripture holds many lessons and revelations for each of us.

Some Stunning Statistics

DO YOU KNOW … that there are 6 billion people in the world who speak 7,394 languages? Speakers of 1,658 languages (824 million) have the New Testament, and 3,658 languages have at least some Scripture (7.23 billion; up to 95% of all people). However, the complete Bible has been translated into only 736 languages. How much we take for granted! (Source: Wycliffe Global Alliance.}

Woodrow Wilson once said, “We have deprived ourselves of the best there is in the world if we deprive ourselves of a knowledge of the Bible.” After I'd finally read the Bible from front to back for the first time, I found myself identifying with Mark Twain, who said, “Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.”

I understood a lot more after I read David Jeremiah’s book, The Great Disappearance: 31 Ways to be Rapture Ready, and Amir Tsarfati’s book, Revealing Revelation: How God’s Plans for the Future Can Change Your Life Now. I’ve been a serious student of Bible prophesy and the end times for nearly twenty years, and these books reinforced years of study by answering questions with author explanations confirmed by Scripture references. If you want to understand what’s coming down the pike for everyone in the world, these two books will give you a clear understanding of God’s grand plan for humanity—and your eternal destiny.

Making a Bible Reading Plan

There are several plans for how to incorporate Bible reading into your daily life. You might start by reading this article, “How to Choose a Bible Reading Plan: 8 Best Plans,” which covers a range of types and media. I also like the many options on BiblePlan.org, all of which will take you no more than 20 minutes a day to read the whole Bible in a year.

If you'd like to do your Bible study online, check out Bible Hub, which features topical, Greek and Hebrew study tools, plus concordances, commentaries, dictionaries, sermons, and devotionals.

To download a free Bible to your phone and tablet, scan the App on Bible.com. Choose from 2400 Bible versions in 1600 languages. (No ads or purchases,)

Remember the BIBLE acronym I shared in a previous MUSINGS? It stands for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Everything you need to know is clearly explained in the infallible Word of God. The Bible itself explains why we need to search its contents for truth and understanding:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

MUSINGS posts are published on the first of each month and announced in the monthly email edition of The Brabec Bulletin. (To subscribe, see the sign-up form in the sidebar of this page.)

Your subscription includes my mid-month TIDBITS Bulletin—short takes on things I've found noteworthy, with links for more information if I've piqued your curiosity. Note that MUSINGS posts and TIDBITS bulletins are not archived, but to sample earlier archived issues of the Brabec Bulletin, see below. Comments to this post are invited, and emails are always welcomed and answered as soon as possible.

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Last Twelve Brabec Bulletins

~ Published in 2024 ~

April 2, 2024: Understanding Copyrights and Public Domain Works. Why thousands of copyrighted works fall into the public domain every year and how this may affect your creative output.

March 4, 2024: The Time-Honored Tradition of Saving and Sharing Recipes. Adapted from one of Barbara's unfinished books titled Stories in My Recipe Box: Kitchen Tales, Cooking Tips, and Old Family Recipes.

February 6, 2024: Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Good sleep is more important than you may realize. Here’s how to get all you need, with special tips and resources for insomniacs.

January 19, 2024:  What are Your Plans for the New Year? Are you where you want to be in life? Or do you feel you need to get your act together this year?

~ Published in 2023 ~

December 7, 2023: Are You a Workaholic Heading for Burnout? What Barbara missed the summer she let the demon on her shoulder convince her that her work was so important she couldn't take time to enjoy life.

November 10, 2023: My Last Garage Sale Experience. Amusing stories and surprises, what sold and what didn't, disposition of unsold goods, and reasons to be thankful.

October 11, 2023: Developing New Life Perspectives. Lessons learned from a garage sale, a friend’s perspective on downsizing, an unusual “purge and reorganize” experience, and more.

September 7, 2023: Three Short Stories: A Personal Update, Great Western Movie Stars and TV series of the 50s and 60s, and “A Tribute to the Dog.”

August 7, 2023: Are You a Procrastinator? If so, it doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It’s just “the Zeigarnik Effect” kicking in. Understand it and you can beat procrastination.

July 5, 2023: Do You Live Alone or Know Someone Who Does? If so, your life or theirs could depend on you having a plan to get immediate help in a medical emergency if the phone is out of reach. 

June 5, 2023: What is Your Legacy? How will you be remembered after you’re gone? What will you leave that has lasting value? How you live your life will determine your legacy.

May 2, 2023: Harnessing the Power of Your Subconscious Mind. Are you using all the information and ideas your subconscious mind has been storing all your life? You know more than you think you know.

Copyright © 2024 by Barbara Brabec. All Rights Reserved.