My First Read
Published: 23 July 2023
Context: I've been wanting to think about how I engage with scripture. As part of the process I'm looking back at how I've engaged with it in the past.
When I was young, my Mum said that she was going to get me a Bible. She asked what kind I wanted. I had heard that the King James Version was good, so I went with Mum and she got me a New King James Bible.
In the years that followed I made a few attempts at reading this Bible, starting from the beginning and reading through. I can remember being really excited the first time I finished Genesis, but I don’t think I ever made it past Exodus (until I was in my mid teens).
I don’t remember why, but when I was around 15 - probably when I wasn’t sharing a room with my little brother Scott any more - I started reading the Bible in bed before I went to sleep. I would read it most nights, but sometimes I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to be legalistic about it. I don’t think I set out to read a particular amount each night either - I might’ve aimed for a chapter, but how much I actually read varied quite a bit.
Sometimes I would scribble parts of verses that stood out to me on a piece of paper beside my bed, and occasionally I looked back at this.
Reading the New King James in bed like this, It took my teenage self about two years to get from the beginning to the end. This was my first time reading through the whole Bible.