How NOT to read the bible

Don't read the Bible as a horoscope. The focus of the horoscope is yourself. You want to know your future, and you want to know what you can do to ensure that that future is rosy. You want instructions for the day, and comforting assurances about tomorrow. The focus of bible reading should be God. You see, if you read the bible to read about yourself and it tells you instead about God, you will be disappointed. If you read the bible to know God, you won't be disappointed.

Don't read the Bible like an Ouija Board. That's something you use in order to find out answers to questions. You want to know if the girl is the One. You want to know whether to take up the invitation to lead a bible study group. You want to know whether you should study economics or go to art school. Sorry people, God's not going to say. He created us with a brain, a conscience, a memory, and he intends us to use these faculties. We want to know because we want to do the right thing. Well, we have to learn to know what is right. And we can only do that by making up our own minds and learning from the result of that. We also want to know because we want to make sure that the future will work out right. The future has to be worked out, not ONLY by making good decisions but also by having the ability to continue to make good decisions in the future. Moreover, we face our future by our faith in God, not by our faith in a decision that came out of the bible.