The Book of Acts
- Susie Renzema
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
September is here, the kids are back to school, the air is chilly (at least this week it is), fall programming is ramping up at church; and if that wasn’t enough of a hint, I went to a women’s event last night where pumpkin cake and apple spice Chex mix were served! When anything pumpkin hits the table you know it’s fall!
Like most mid-westerners, I love this time of year. The longer I am a Michigander the more I fall in love with the beauty of this state, although if you check back with me in February I might be singing a different tune! One of the things I love is the way that fall is a kind of re-set, it feels much like New Years Day. A time to start new rhythms, institute new habits, and make goals.
One goal I have heard expressed repeatedly is the desire to read the Bible on a more regular basis. It can be hard to just pick it up and start reading in Genesis, most people abandon ship somewhere around all the weird skin issues in Leviticus. So unless you’re very disciplined or highly motivated, what do you do? Might I suggest taking it in smaller chunks? Like the old question; “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” What if you took the Bible one book at a time?
However, most people who are looking to read God’s Word don’t just want to read it, they also want to meditate on it, to take it into themselves in a way that produces the kind of change that Jesus calls us to when we become Christians. This part can be hard, at least it has been for me. But about eight years ago I started to journal scripture and that has been a game changer. What do I mean by that? I read through the Bible according to a specific plan that guides me toward key scriptures which I write out in my journal. Sounds pretty simple, right? It is, but it also offers so much more.
Educators have long said that the more senses we engage when learning something new the more we will retain it. That’s scripture journaling in a nutshell. Your first read the chosen passage, might I suggest out loud if you’re able. Read it in context, which means reading more than just the verses themselves but also the entire section that they are contained within. Then, write them out in your journal. This action causes you to slow down and concentrate, often making certain words or phrases jump off the page in a way that simply reading does not.
From there the Holy Spirit is in charge. Perhaps what you read and journal will lead you to repentance, or maybe it’s the encouragement you have been longing for. Maybe it’s the words you need to pray for a friend or for a difficult situation. There’s been no limit to the way God has spoken to me through this one discipline, which is why I’ve kept doing it for eight and a half years!
So how does this relate to eating an elephant one bite at a time? For those of you who have been with me a little while, we just finished our fifth bite of that elephant called the Bible. We have journaled Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon; five of the 27 books of the New Testament! I think that’s pretty cool! So cool I thought we’d do it again for September.
What do Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon have in common? If you read last months introduction you know that these are the Apostle Paul’s prison epistles, or prison letters. Much of what’s written in these letters refers back to the inception of the church after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, events that are recorded in the book of Acts. While reading these I kept finding myself flipping back to the book of Acts to read what Paul was referring to in order to get the broader scope.
It was while doing this that the idea to journal the book of Acts came to me. And then I found out that my church was going to preach through the book of Acts starting in September, it seemed a perfect combination. But Acts is 28 chapters, how was I going to parse out this lengthy book? My husband gave me the idea of doing a chapter a day, and I started scouring resources to hone in on the key verses for each chapter. I’m pretty excited with how it turned out. So if you’re new here, this is a great place to jump in, and if you’ve been here for a while, give yourself a pat on the back and get ready to journal your sixth book of the Bible!
