You're Ignoring the Best Part

Bringing back Full Biblical Literacy

What’s your favorite book of the Bible?

I’ll take a guess and say it’s probably in the New Testament. If you wanted to be different, you probably said Psalms or Proverbs. But my guess is that the majority of y’all would not name a book from the Old Testament. No one would say Leviticus, or Hosea, or Lamentations. I have seen Bibles that just consist of the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs—effectively excluding the Old Testament. I can’t help but think about how all I knew about the Old Testament, growing up, were the stories I would hear in Sunday School but never actually read for myself. I think about when I finally did read it for myself, it was very different from the stories I was told. I think about how biblical illiteracy is rising in my generation and the fact we don’t know God’s character as a result. What is going on? Why are we ignoring almost two-thirds of the Bible? Do we really need the Old Testament, or is it optional? 

2 Timothy 3:16 says that “ALL Scripture is inspired by God...”, not just the New Testament, all of it. If it is in the Scriptures, then there is something God wants us to learn about Himself because that is the whole point! We aren’t meant to read the Bible just to find inspirational quotes or use it as a dictionary to define concepts; it is the God of the Universe revealing Himself to us! Think of all the names of God: El Shaddai, El Roi, El Elyon, Jehovah Jireh, Nissi, Rapha—the list goes on and on. All are revealed in the Old Testament. The most quoted Bible passage in the Bible, by the Bible is Exodus 34:6-7 where God fully discloses His name and ...

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