I Thought I knew the Bible

I had an employer that wasn't a Christian as far as we could tell. He loved to read books. We would sit and talk about bibliographies, politics and even a few religious topics. One day in our conversation about nothing he made the statement that he has never truly read the Bible. He has mainly been told what the Bible says and has read a few scriptures here and there but nothing in depth. Therefore, he decided he was going to read the Bible. More for reading material and the historical events than anything. A few weeks later I spoke with him to find out how far he has gotten. He explained that he was just about finished with the old testament. I was glad but shocked he actually did. Then without warning, a feeling of depression came on to me. Here is a "non-Christian" telling me stories and events of the Bible I couldn't remember or even knew about. I being a Christian should have said, "oh, yeah I know that part and did you know....".

I decided it was time for myself to do the same. I should sit and read the Bible from cover to cover. Not skipping around reading a verse here or there. Truly read it as if it was on the New York Times bestsellers list today. Therefore, I set out a resolution to do so.

Here is the funny thing. I began last night reading in Genesis and by the time I hit chapter 9, I had learned 4 things I never knew. FOUR THINGS! Wow. Let me tell you what they were.

1.) Noah cursed his son, Ham and his generations (Canaanites) for not helping him.
2.) Noah made the Canaanites servants of his brothers generations.
3.) There was not 2 of each kind of animal that went into the ark. There were 4 of the same kind. There were 2 clean and 2 of unclean same type animals and they were also to be of different species of each category. There were at least 7 different species.
4.) Man was a vegetarian until after he was cast from the garden.

Let me encourage you to open your Bible. If not for any other reason to know what the Bible says. Read it from cover to cover. Even when the ancestry slows you down, read them. You will know who each person is and it helps relate where they came from giving a better understanding of who they are and why they do what they do.

Read your Bible and even when you think you know the stories or events, read it again. You will be surprised what might show up and just how enriching reading it becomes.