What would it have been like?

After watching a video posted on AB's blog site here, I was challenged to think about whether I agreed with all that was said and what changes might need to be made in my life. Something that struck me when hearing the guy talk about being on your death bed and wishing you had've spent more time reading the Bible, regardless of how much you end up reading.

From viewing this, and some other parts of the clip, it got me thinking about what it would have been like for people such as the Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians etc.. when they recieved a letter of instructions and encouragement from Paul. Upon first receiving it, I imagine it was read out to all the people of the church by a church leader, but what then? I think it would be something so important to them that they would be reading it daily, particularly those in charge and seeing how they line up with it.

This then prompts me to think that when reading a letter like these, they should be read in one go, and read several days in a row. By this method, it would give a good chance at understanding the purposes of the writer of the letter and what it is we are/they were told to do.

I think this method should be implemented when reading the letters of the Bible particularly, and I plan to give it a go this week. But can it also be applied to other parts of the Bible?Rather than just reading a passage once, then moving onto a new passage the next day, perhaps it is better to read a short section one day, then read it again the next day and maybe another day, or multiple times each day, before moving onto a new section and doing the same thing.

For anyone reading this, what do you think about this reading method? What methods work best for you? What did you think about that video linked to in Andrew Barry's blog?