Eat Your Vegetables

The other day I was out for a brisk walk and along the trail came a healthy young woman wearing a shirt with one word on the front that simply said “KALE” . . . just like that, in all caps.

All of a sudden my daily two-mile walk felt inadequate. If I really, really wanted to be healthy I’d eat kale everyday as well as walk, drink lots of water, and all of the other things I’m supposed to do. But I hate kale. To me it tastes like grass clippings, but without the tender fragrance and sweetness that makes grass so nice to be around. I’m sure there are delicious ways to prepare kale, but my prejudice against it usually keeps me from looking into that.

Give It a Try

Sometimes the things we need to do to grow spiritually feel like eating our vegetables.

A friend and I spend time reading the Bible and praying together about once a week. She’s a Jesus follower who wants to grow spiritually so we hang out and talk.

When we started getting together I suggested that she read her Bible each day and make notes on the things that interested her. The next couple of times we met, she confessed that she hardly read her Bible at all that week. She tried, but all she could think of was how boring and hard to understand it was.

Better With a Friend

So we tried reading a few verses from the Gospel of Mark aloud together.

I asked her if she had any questions about what we read and it turned out that she had lots of questions. Unanswered questions can choke a person’s mind and heart when they are trying to read the Bible so we stopped pushing through the reading and went to work on her questions.

Getting some answers made the words on the page came alive for her. She digested what the verses were saying; they had personal meaning for her. By the end of our time together, she was ready to go home and read some more.  This time instead of ignoring her questions, she decided to write them down and bring them to our next meeting.

Thrive!

I asked her later if my encouragement to read her Bible sounded like I was yelling, “Eat your vegetables!” She agreed that it did. When we adapted Bible reading to her needs and questions, it went down smoothly and she got the benefit. In fact, her appetite for the Bible grew.

No one likes to eat alone all of the time. God made people for community and relationship. Even introverts like to share a meal with someone who is interested in them, cares about their lives and asks good questions. We thrive when we connect with people who love us. That’s why growing spiritually is so much more nourishing when we are with friends.

Keep Going, You’ll Get There

So about the kale thing . . . I discovered that kale isn’t bad at all when it’s blended into a smoothie. It’s also good baked in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt. It turns out that I don’t really hate kale, I just needed more appetizing ways to eat it.

Is Bible reading is hard for you? The problem might be that you are choking on your unanswered questions, or you’re trying to take in more than you are ready to digest. Get some help! Try a different approach.

Here are some ways to read the Bible with friends:

Call your church and ask about groups that are studying the Bible and join one.

Invite a friend to read a book of the Bible with you and get together to talk about it.

Find a mentor, someone who knows a bit more about the Bible than you do and ask if you can go over your questions with them.

The right Bible reading recipe is waiting for you. Keep going until you find it!