What do I mean by the question ‘Time for a Bible Break?’ Without much ado…

Take 1: You’re a city executive – you catch the 6.12 from your home town to the city every morning. Most times you read the newspaper, but today you’ve decided to read your Bible. Joseph’s story is your choice, you’re feeling a bit heavy this morning, lots of turbulence at work lately and with his coat of many colours, he just might bring a litter summer cheer into your day. You open to Genesis 37 and dig in. The man on your left is working on a cross-word, the woman opposite is reading the Economist, the man standing to your right is holding a cup of coffee and reading the Times with the other. He’s not holding onto anything.

The train is not yet packed, but by the next station it will be. It’s a typical week-day morning. As the train churns its way to the City, you follow Joseph on his journey from boyhood to the pit to Potiphar’s house. By Genesis 39, the man to your left leaves and his seat is immediately taken by a young woman with a large dog. You would like to pat the dog, but you don’t want to overstep your bounds – you delve back into the Bible, Joseph goes to prison and from there to Pharaoh’s palace. It’s a roller coaster life, one which reminds you of what your own job has been like recently. Just before you jump off the train, in Chapter 41, Pharaoh tells Joseph that no hand or foot would be lifted up without him in the whole of Egypt. That statement hits you in a new dimension – when you get off the train, your step is lighter, the day appears brighter, if God could do that for Joseph, He can do that for you too…

Take 2: You’re a stay at home mom with two children under the age of three. It’s early afternoon, the children are napping, the breakfast plates have been washed, lunch is warming, dinner is thawing, the living room-turned-nursery is tidy, the house is quiet. You have a few moments to yourself. You decide to delve a little bit deeper into the story of Ruth in the Bible whom the preacher on Sunday preached about. After all he did say that the congregation should be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures to see if what Paul preached about to them was true.

You start – at the beginning of the story, Ruth is a widow, destitute, clinging to an elderly and bitter woman, Naomi. Just 4 chapters later, the story ends – Ruth is re-married to a very kind and wealthy man; the old and bitter woman, Naomi is now a happy grandmother by proxy; you understand the story a bit more, a woman who had nothing ended up in the lineage of Jesus, God turned her situation around because she decided to follow Naomi’s God, what God did for her had a ripple effect in Naomi’s life too – you realise that it wouldn’t hurt if you were bit more focused on God as Ruth was – and the realisation comes just in time too, because one of the children’s woken up…

Take 3: You’re a student and a new Christian. It’s lunch time and you’ve been invited to a small and short Bible study with some older Christians in a quiet part of the park. You get there just as soon as they finish the opening prayer. The text is Mark 5 verses 21 to 43. Thankfully, the leader of the study tells everyone it’s the second book in the New Testament, so you’re not left behind and open up to the text at the same pace as the others. Thankfully too, everyone’s brought their sandwiches, so you can eat yours as well. The student leading the study starts to read and almost immediately you’re drawn into a large crowd, bodies pressing into each other, sandalled feet kicking up dust, the nearby sea bringing a freshness to the thick air.

As he reads, a man called Jairus presses through, bows down at Jesus’ feet and asks him to heal his 12 year old daughter. By verse 42, Jairus’ daughter is alive again, and another woman who had been haemorrhaging for 12 years has also been healed. Then it’s contribution/life application time. Someone says Jesus can breathe life into dead dreams, another notes that Jesus can not only heal broken bodies, but broken relationships. Time’s up, you all pray and the Bible study ends. As you walk back to class with the other Christians, you suddenly realise that number 12 was repeated in both stories. Coincidence? You decide to save that question for the next Bible study; right now you have your philosophy 101 class to attend…

What am I trying to say in the paragraphs above? Simply this. The Bible is full of stories that are filled with life changing relevance for our daily lives. First thing in the morning is excellent, there’s a quiet stillness that cannot be compared with any other time. But in addition, you can read it when you have a break during the day, because it contains many accounts that are short enough to fit into the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. Short they may be, but those accounts are packed with gems that we can munch on the whole day and apply, as we go about doing what we have to do. So, do you have an oasis of calm around the corner? It could just be, might just be – time for a Bible break.

Puaichie Badejo writes Christian fiction and poetry. She is married with three young children.

Business URL: http://bespokechristianfiction.com/default.aspx

Poetry Blog: http://www.aparcelofpoetry.blogspot.com/

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