5 Shortscuts (Mistakes) in Reading The Bible

1. As a Lawbook Only–  People like this look at God as nothing but a lawgiver.  They become legalists.  People like this read the Bible to find commandments only.  This is not why God gave us the Bible.
2. As Blessings & Promises Only– People like this look for all the easy stuff in the Bible.  It’s not all easy.  Psalms tells you to tell God what you feel.
3. As an Inkblot Only–  People see what they want to see.  This crowd thinks Jesus is like them.  They cannot separate their self-image from the image of Jesus.
4. As a Puzzle Only– When these people find passages that don’t fit their system, they put them away.  They tend to solve the Bible as a puzzle and take all the pieces and make their own collage.  
5. As a Maestro Only–  This group of people find and author in the Bible the becomes their Maestro.  In other words, they may only see the Bible through the eyes of Paul or Jesus alone.  They favor their favorites who fashion it like they like it.  

The Right Way to Read the Bible–  Read it from beginning to end, as a story!  We are to read the Bible with “magic eyes.”  Enter yourself into the story and you will find yourself transformed!  Don’t try to get anything out of it.  The story will take over your life and it will become your story.

Seth McKnight; Talk at Northpoint Church, 12-14-08.