More than twenty years ago, a writer named William Least Heat-Moon wrote a bestselling book titled Blue Highways. The book was a chronicle of his 13,000-mile journey across America. When he embarked on that journey, he was determined to stay on the “blue highways,” the roads marked in blue on his map. The major thoroughfares and big freeways were printed in red, but the back roads were in blue, and that’s where William Least Heat-Moon wanted to be.

He wanted to meander the country roads and quiet lanes dotted with drug stores, fruit stands, and drive-in movies. He thought he could get in touch with the real America if he stayed on the blue highways.

I thought about calling this book Blue Highways of the Bible but eventually decided against it. That title does capture, though, what I’m trying to do in the pages that follow. I want to roam the blue highways of Scripture and look for hidden treasures on the back roads of the Bible.

Anyone familiar with the Bible knows the “red-highway” passages, the parts known and revered by the masses: the Ten Commandments, the 23rd Psalm, the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the prodigal son, and the apostle Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, to mention a few. Those are wonderful roads to travel, full of pleasure and insight, and I’m glad I’ve been there.

But in these pages I want us to take the roads less traveled. I want us to get off the beaten path, meet unfamiliar people, and visit unusual places. You probably know Peter, James, and John, but in these pages I want you to meet Bezalel, Ahimaaz, and Diotrephes. And you’ve probably spent some time studying Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but I want you to visit Lamentations, Habakkuk, Haggai, and 3 John. Even if you’ve spent a good part of your life studying the Bible, we’ll probably go places you’ve seldom been before.

As we wander the back roads of the Bible, I think you’ll be impressed with the people we meet and the sights we see. You might even come to believe there are truths to be learned on the back roads that can’t be learned anywhere else.

The chapters in this book are short for two reasons. First, I like short chapters and think they make a book readable. Second, I’ve opted for short chapters because of what I’m trying to do in the book. My goal is to whet your appetite, to give you just enough to make you want to go to the Bible and explore these passages in more depth. There is nothing exhaustive in any of these chapters, but I hope there is something tantalizing.

The chapters are in order of the biblical books they discuss. The first chapter deals with a passage from Genesis, and the last chapter deals with a passage from Revelation. In between, the chapters move through the Old and New Testaments, dealing with some books and ignoring others. There are hidden treasures in every book of the Bible, but space constraints compelled me to pick and choose.

Because the chapters move in order through the Bible, there’s no topical, thematic organization to the book. One chapter might deal with grace, and the next one might ricochet over to suffering. If it feels a bit disjointed, forgive me. It could be that the best way to approach this book is to read a chapter, ponder the questions for reflection that go with it, let the truth of that chapter sink in, and then move on to the next one. My guess is that a slow reading of the book will be more rewarding than a fast one. The book conveniently has thirty-one chapters, at least one for each day of the month.

I’m writing this book while on a sabbatical at a cabin in Oregon. Every morning I get to wake up, pour myself a cup of coffee, and then head to the computer to explore the blue highways of the Bible. I’m going to have a lot of fun on this journey, and I hope you will too.

Each morning as I write, I’m going to visualize the people I’m writing for:

If you’re in one of those three categories, I invite you to come along and wander the blue highways with me. I’m hoping we’ll find some hidden treasures along the way.

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