After years of filmmaking and blogging, I’m slowly returning to my first loves of writing and speaking. After speaking about Lottie Moon at church this past Christmas, I remembered how much I enjoy research. I’ve began work on a new book about women from the Bible. I’m loving studying the Bible more in depth, so I was excited to have the opportunity to review HIStory in 30 Days, a daily devotional that provides an overview of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
How could author Carole O. Schryber summarize the Bible in a 134 page book? I was curious to know. Well, it all began when she was asked to give a summary of the Bible in 60 minutes for a women’s conference. That speech was the inspiration for this book. Ms. Schryber was a New York attorney who gave up her practice in order to devote herself to the study of scripture. Her task with the speech and the book was to present scripture in an easy to understand style and show how pertinent it was to everyday life.
Each daily devotion includes a fun title, an overview of a Bible passage or biblical concept, an anecdote that relates to our lives, and a prayer. She focuses on the thread that is woven throughout scripture, concentrating on the high points. She spends six days in Genesis and breezes through some of the minor books. For some books, a mere sentence summarizing the central theme is all that’s needed. Other times specific stories or individuals are featured. The book concludes with a Books of the Bible appendix that lists each book and a logline that summarizes it. And true to her promise, she does indeed start with Genesis and conclude with Revelation.
HIStory in 30 Days is a good devotional choice to put the scripture in context and see how it all flows together. It’s an easy read, especially perfect for new Christians.
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