A great read!

“If you are going to grow as a Christian, you need to be reading the Bible every day.” How often have you heard that? Not that I disagree with the statement, but if you are like me, it has sometimes been just one more thing to put me under the pile. C.H. Spurgeon is reported to have said: “A Bible which is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” I can’t really argue with the sentiment, but actually sitting down and reading the Bible every day can be a real challenge.

So what do we do? Pick up a Daily Bread. Five days later, the interest level has diminished and we are back at square one. Or our January 1 resolution (how many times has this happened?) is to read through the Bible in a year. We invest in a guide, trudge through Genesis and Exodus, and then the first week of February find ourselves “lost in Leviticus” and abandon the whole thing.

Lately, I have been trying to spend more time in the gospels. My reason is that those books are where we see and hear Jesus firsthand. Since I really want my life to conform to His, reading accounts of His life seems to be a wise strategy. But there are four accounts, each with a different approach to recording the events. And there is so much, especially in the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that is repeated. Start reading in Matthew 1, and by the time you get midway through Mark, you are wishing someone had put all these together into one story. And then there are the “discrepancies”, the places where two accounts of the same event seem to be at odds.

Here’s a thought. What if the Holy Spirit, superintending the writing of these four books, allowed each author to address a different group and come at the task with differing capabilities and interests, but still supernaturally created a single account? What if someone took out all the passages where information is duplicated and then combined the four gospel accounts into one chronological biography? Would it flow without discrepancies? Would it make reading about Jesus’ life and ministry fascinating? Would you find that you could hardly put the book down?

Well, someone has. And the answer to all these questions is a resounding “YES!” The format I have described is called a harmony of the gospels. And the particular harmony I have found most helpful is titled, “The Life of Christ in Stereo” by Johnston M. Cheney. A number of features make this an excellent book to use as a devotional. Each passage carries a raised numeral to identify its gospel author. In the back of the book, explanatory footnotes and an outline of the life of Christ give additional information to encourage further study or assist in teaching the material.

If you are looking for a way to get into the Bible every day, I would highly recommend this book to you. Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print. But used copies are available on Amazon, and you can probably find them at a used bookstore, or even at some libraries. If not, then any harmony of the gospels will fill the bill. Read…and enjoy!