The other day I finished reading Genesis and I was so sad to come to the end of the book because I had enjoyed it so much! It's always been a fun book to read, but this time I read slower and did more studying than usual. J gave me an ESV Study Bible for Christmas this year and that's what I'm using for this read-through. I have to say, the study notes are good! I've been pairing those notes with the Tony Evans Bible Commentary that I picked up last year at the Priority Conference, also at the recommendation of a friend, and his insights have often made me sit back and say wow! They're really helping me go deeper and I love that.
So I came to Exodus still sorely disappointed that Genesis was done, and a little reluctant to start Exodus, which really surprised me because of all the Bible personalities, Moses has always been my favorite. I think my reluctance stemmed from this dilemma I've been chewing on...
Because I've been doing my read-through more slowly this time, I've been spending more time in the study notes and commentaries, and there's a place for that. But those notes and commentaries are NOT Scripture and I want...I need to find a balance between reading through and digging in. A friend calls this going deep and wide, like the children's song. We need to go deep in God's Word, studying. But we also need to go wide, reading larger portions to give us and keep us anchored in the big picture of the Bible.
The digging I'm doing has been oh-so rich. I've learned so much (Jacob was such an eye-opener for me this time and I spent days and days with him) but I really miss reading the large chunks of Scripture (going wide). I need those larger chunks. My favorite read-through of the Bible so far was in 2020. I read cover to cover in nine months, despite my work-load almost doubling and work-related stress sky-rocketing. That fast read of the Bible kept me grounded and anchored and focused and able to handle all that was going on at work. It was wonderful!
So this dilemma is big and real to me and it's played into my reluctance to see Genesis end and Exodus start because I need to go wide, but there are also a few reasons I need to go deep in Exodus. So I delayed a day or two, still savoring Genesis and deliberating how to proceed.
I still don't know what to do about my dilemma but I do know I need to go deep in parts of Exodus. I've spent the week evaluating my morning routine (typically when I read and study) and found something I had added to my mornings that I need to move to a different time.
Have you encountered the deep or wide dilemma? How did you handle it? Have you found a sweet spot?
What about evaluating your routines to keep or create (more) time in God's Word? It's the perfect time to pause and ponder and tweak or even start new.
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