Scriptural Discussions

This evening, in our family scripture study, my family paused a few times to comment on the scriptures we were reading. This actually happens somewhat frequently, though our comments are usually only a sentence long and don't often provoke a response. This time, however, our comments went further than usual. We talked about our readings, raised questions, and discussed possible answers to them. This all meant that it took us that much longer to complete our nightly chapter, but I think our discussions were well worth the time they took. They helped us understand and ponder what we were reading, rather than simply reading through it.

I think that's why it's good advice, at least in one's personal reading, to study the scriptures for a period of time rather than trying to read a given number of chapters or verses. If one focusses too much on reading a certain amount of scriptures, they may be tempted to try to get through the readings quickly, or to consider themselves "done" as soon as they've read the scriptures, whether or not they put any actual thought into them. When one instead allows themselves enough time and flexibility to focus on a particular verse or passage and ponder it for a moment, they'll get a lot more out of that passage than they would have if they had merely skimmed through it or read it just for the sake of reading it.

I'm pretty sure our family will stick to the pattern or reading one chapter from the Book of Mormon each night, but I hope that we'll continue to feel free to voice and discuss our comments and questions as we read our nightly chapter. I enjoyed the scriptural discussions we had tonight, and I hope we have more of them in the future.