Have you read my book?

A friend of mine once had a dream. In the dream, he arrived in heaven and began to meet some of the people who had got there before him. One man introduced himself by saying, "Hallo, I'm Habbakuk. You probably read my book in the Bible." To my friend's embarrassment, he had to confess that, even though he had been a believer for many years, he had never read that small book written by Habbakuk.

That was back in the 1970s, but it stuck in my memory because it made me think how sad it would be for us to have received the Bible, the written Word of God, and then limit ourselves to reading only a few parts of it. Ever since then, I've tried to read the whole Bible from cover to cover within every two years or so. (The reason I choose to read the Bible over two years instead of just one, is because you need to read a lot of chapters per day to finish the Bible in a year, and I prefer to read a smaller amount and have enough time to meditate on it and write down the things that God speaks to me. Also, there may be some parts that I read more than once in the year.)

I'd hate to think that the next generation, when they get to heaven one day, would be embarrassed to meet Habbakuk or Joel or Malachi.... And so, this month's booklet for Challenge 2013 (even though it's being used mainly by 10 - 16 year olds) includes readings from the so-called "minor prophets" of the Old Testament. Download it here: www.biblechallenge2013.blogspot.com