Many people think about read the Bible in its entirety some day but rarely follow through on this resolve, concluding, "It's just too hard for me to understand" or "I need a Bible study class first."

True, some Bibles, such as the King James Version, were translated in a style and using vocabulary less familiar to modern-day readers. I've found, though, that once I get into the King James Version, the language comes alive and I am able to understand it. In fact, the rhythm and richness of the language become enjoyable. I do sometimes refer to a more modern translation or a Bible commentary. Many of these are readily available in bookstores and Christian Science Reading Rooms.

Bible-study classes can be beneficial as well. Yet the conviction that the individual should be able to read the Scriptures for himself and decide their meaning is an idea that has its roots in the Protestant Reformation. So the lack of academic training in the Scriptures should not prevent anyone from reading the Book of books and benefiting from it.

Perhaps we have given the Bible a good try and even read beyond Genesis, maybe even as far as Psalms, and then just given up. At times like these it's helpful to remember that the Bible, after all, contains the very Word of God. To find out what God has to say to us should be of primary concern! Would God give us His Word, and then leave us incapable of understanding it? Of course not! Just going forward with the conviction that we can understand makes all the difference.

Reading the Bible played a significant role in a healing I had. As a child raised in a Protestant church, I learned many Bible verses by heart. Later, when I became a practicing Christian Scientist, I daily read the Bible Lessons outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. Once in a while I tried to read the Bible from cover, to cover, but even my best efforts always fizzled out.

Then there came a time when I was afflicted with a physical disability that made it very difficult to care for my home and three small children. After praying about the problem on my own, I got in touch with a Christian Science Practitioner. Through her prayers and mine, my thought was turned away from the physical problem, away from fear and discouragement toward God and His infinite love and mercy. The practitioner recommended that I read the Bible through, along with the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. I began reading several pages from each book every day. The textbook illuminated the Scriptural passages for me. I found that no matter where I was in the Bible, the pages from Science and Health were relevant.

Well, I was healed long before I had finished the Bible, but

I just kept right on. I felt a desire to complete the whole book, and it was what I was reading in Science and Health that fostered this desire.

While I was immersed in this study, the first message that really hit me was that God never loses a battle. He has all the power. Before, the various wars and fights of the Israelites against their enemies had seemed monotonous. But now I realized that these victories hinted at a tremendous spiritual power, an overwhelming force for good, operating on mankind's behalf. I saw that this spiritual power, or force, is God. Throughout the Bible, from the parting of the Red Sea to the resurrection of Christ Jesus, we see the mighty hand of God at work. As Revelation puts it, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." I knew that as I adored, worshiped, and obeyed God, He was going to win my battles, too.

Glimpsing something of the omnipotence of God, infinite Spirit, my thinking changed to some degree. I began seeing that in Science—a term Mrs. Eddy uses to describe reality, or absolute truth—there is no disease to oppose Spirit's all-power or to deprive man of his perfection as God's spiritual idea. Whatever battles there are to be fought are in human consciousness, where Christ's purifying, healing influence overrules the false beliefs of the physical senses. Speaking from years of experience in practicing the Science underlying Christ Jesus' healing work, Mrs. Eddy affirmed, "In Science, you can have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false testimony" (Science and Health). The physical senses did give up their false testimony, and I was healed.

The healing naturally was the cause of much quiet rejoicing. Nevertheless, what I was learning about God inspired me to finish reading the Bible.

That was the first time. Since then I've read the Scriptures many times, and I'm reading them now, a few pages (sometimes many more) every day, along with the Christian Science textbook. I've found that the Bible truly is humanity's friend.