08-2007:

Arnhem. I'm sitting in the exhibition space in the headoffice Essent involved in my daily reading.

As part of my recovery program from a burn-out that I ran in to over a year ago, I take a 15 minute break after 2 hours of work. I walk the staircase up and down for 4 stories ending in the exhibition space on the 1^st floor where I can sit in a comfortable chair. There I do my daily reading from a small book that is not available anymore, but you can read the content on this site. Some years ago I took the habbit of reading the bible as if it was written yesterday and solely aimed at me. It's astonishing how valuable and directly useable these texts turn out to be for me.

A collegue of mine, that I really hardly know, sits himself down next to me and asks me what I'm reading. I happen to know that he is not religious / church going, so his question sort of strikes me. I show him the little book and tell him why I'm reading this. Then he askes me an even more puzzling question: "When I want to start reading the bible, where do I begin?".

Without any hesitation or restraint I answer him the following:
1. start with Ecclesiastes. Make sure that you understand that what it says is aimed at you and practice this in life.
2. next read the Psalms, but do not overhaste or be shallow with these texts. 'Feel' what they say and experience it.
3. explore the core of the message that Jezus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount (Math.5:1-27) and let it sink in.
4. read the letters of Paul carefully.
5. read the gospel of John.

After all these years I still stick to my advice, eventhough I have no clou where the answer came from when the question was asked.

For those of you who are looking for more detail I recommend: https://biblehub.com/