Many people are familiar with the phrase that goes with the acrostic WWJD: What Would Jesus Do. But I was very intrigued to see WWJR, which turns out to be an interesting book What Would Jesus Read? by Joe Amaral.
The premise behind the book is a historical setting. As the Jews were dispersed into captivity after Jerusalem fell, there was no longer a Temple to serve as the gathering place for religious worship, nor was there a central location for the storing and preservation of the scrolls which made up what we now refer to as the Old Testament of the Bible. The Jews themselves were now going to be the keepers of Scripture, and their homes would be the places of worship. So the Jewish rabbis divided up the biblical texts into daily reading portions, and distributed these among the scattering Jewish families. So each day of each week, a different portion of Scripture was read, and meditated on, and memorized so that it could be passed on to future generations.
So by following the reading plan in What Would Jesus Read you will be participating in a 2500-year-old tradition. It’s pretty cool to think of Bible reading that way!
Each day includes a portion of Old Testament scripture to read, and a brief devotional thought from Joe Amaral. It’s a great way to join your heart and thoughts to a tradition that started so long ago, and still continues today.
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Craig T. Owens 