Read fast, read normally.

We've started a sermon series on Deuteronomy and I thought it useful to read along. But, rather than reading the section of the week's topic, I read fast. I read as much as I can in a sitting, to get the whole book done quickly; but not sloppily!

For most of my Christian life, the general encouragement to read the Bible was about reading it in small bits: devotionally, or sometimes as a study for small groups. But what else does one read this way? A letter from a friend a paragraph a day? No.

So, I read fast: for small books, the whole book at a sitting. One sees the shape of the text, its themes and argument much better this way; and one also gets closer, I think, to the author as a person.

It is good to read in small slices; but also good to read 'normally' in big chunks and quick tempo.