I don’t remember. I do remember getting a brand new Good News Bible when they first came out, and starting at Genesis, colouring in the pictures as I went. I don’t think I made it all the way through.

Name a Bible character you resonate with and why.

Jacob. I can be a bit sneaky sometimes, and I am hardly God’s most compliant human, so when I do manage to limp faithfully along I am acutely conscious that it’s because he has wrestled me into shape.

What are you reading in the Bible at the moment?

Matthew, Psalms, Exodus; but not as systematically as that slick list makes it sound.

Where do you read the Bible?

At my desk or in an easy chair in my office. Sometimes on the train.

What’s one thing from the Bible that’s stuck in your brain at the moment?

God’s self-description in Exodus 34:6-7.

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

Jeremiah and Lamentations, first of all because I am writing about them in my spare moments and have still not got their measure; secondly, because they are steeped in profound and poetic theology, like honey soaked through baklava; thirdly, because Jeremiah is my favourite person in the Old Testament.

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

Almost all my Bible reading is a Bible reading failure of one sort or another. If I don’t fail to read, I fail to read well; if I don’t fail to read well, I fail to live up to what I read. But God is not limited by my failure. That’s what I’ve learned.

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

We are suckers for the magic bullet story – “just tweak your life this way and you too can become a creature of Bible reading habit!” But not everyone is made to be a creature of habit. It may be that you will struggle and feel frustrated with yourself your whole life. That’s OK. It’s who you are, and it pleases God that we glorify him in our weakness. Just make sure you don’t give up meeting regularly with the saints, so you can hear the Bible read and taught. Go to a church that is filled with the Bible. You could also try putting yourself in situations where Bible reading becomes a chore you have to do: whether it’s joining a Bible study or saying yes to a friend who wants to have coffee once a week and read the Bible together. For me, the regularity of my reading is not nearly as important as its focus. To pore over a small section of the Bible repeatedly, enquiringly, analytically, until I see something new in my God and praise him for it … that sort of struggle I find deeply rewarding.

If you were a monster what would be your defining feature?

Monstrosity.