I live in Midland, a town on the edge of Perth city, and I attend Providence Church, Midland.

Name a Bible character you resonate with and why.

Daniel. Because I would love to emulate his character, as I believe we live in the same exile setting that he does. I love his prayer life and his trust in God, and his bravery to speak truth to power.

What are you reading in the Bible at the moment?

1,2,3 John. Reading at a slow pace for a while, as I usually “chunk” through books.

Where do you read the Bible?

Generally at home in a devotional sense, but I always have it with me, and when with Christian mates we often look up a verse or talk about something. And at moments like that an electronic version can be helpful!

Name one part of the Bible you keep coming back to again and again and why.

Hebrews – especially chapters 3-10. They show how God’s people today have the fulfilment of the redemption experienced by God’s people back in the desert, who were given a shadow of the true altar/sacrifice/priest. If we have the reality in Christ and his finished and ongoing work, then “how much more” we should obey God when he speaks, and “how much more” we can enter his presence with confidence in times of need.

Describe one of your Bible reading failures and what you learnt.

As a pastor it became really easy, when busy, to simply see prepping for sermons as work. Learning to realise that God’s word is speaking to me as I use it to speak to others is a humbling and sobering thing. In short, not seeing the Bible as “my job”.

What advice would you give someone struggling to read the Bible each day?

Saying “Bad Christian, bad Christian!” won’t make that struggle go away – it needs to be an exercise of grace. My aim is to ensure I read the Bible frequently even when I occasionally miss doing it on a daily basis. Then to read it sometimes in chunks quickly, sometimes in small parts over time, and always asking the Holy Spirit to make me walk away from the Word and put it into practice.

And just for fun, if you were a monster what would be your defining feature?

The ability to disguise myself as a mere human being. Got ya thinking hasn’t it?

Steve McAlpine has written a series of Daily Bible readings for Bible Society Australia for September. His first series, called Between Two Worlds: Ephesians starts this Sunday 6 September. Sign up today by clicking here.