Practical advice for Bible reading
The teaching today will help you to read the Bible in such a way as to gain the maximum benefit. Begin putting this into practice at once! If you do not know the Bible we recommend that you start with the gospel of Mark, which is the shortest, and continue with the gospel of John, which contains many of the sermons of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament.
Exercise:
Have you started to read the Bible systematically?
If not, make your decision to start from today!
Commitment: I will read one chapter of the Bible every day, starting with the gospel of Mark, continuing with the gospel of John, Luke, Matthew, Acts and then all the epistles. After finishing the New Testament I will continue to read the Old Testament as well!
Practical advice for Bible reading
What is the best time to read the Bible?
The answer is quite simply another question: When do you have time to read? Your day is probably so full of activity that you hardly have any spare time. That means you must make time to read. It is best to set apart a certain time and let Bible reading and prayer become part of your regular daily routine. It is always an advantage to have set times for prayer and Bible reading. You must find out for yourself the time that is best for you. The best time is when you are rested and fit and can avoid interruptions e.g. morning and evening. Don’t wait until you get time. Decide to begin to read the Bible regularly. Don’t waste time, start now!
How much should you read?
That will vary from time to time, according to what you are reading. One chapter can be enough in the sections of teaching in the Bible. Sometimes you will get so much from one paragraph or one verse that you will want to study that rather than continue. If you read three chapters every day you will read right through the Bible in the course of a year. If you read one chapter a day it will take you three years to read through the Bible. It is a very good thing to have a plan for reading the Bible. Such a plan will help you to come through the whole Bible in a certain period of time. The most important thing is not that you read the whole Bible, but that the Bible has the chance to change your life.
Which edition of the Bible should you read?
You should primarily use a translation that is commonly used among believing Christians, for example, the New International Version or the New Living Translation. Get to know it so well that it becomes a part of you. In addition you should have a selection of other translations if possible. By reading other translations than the one you usually use, you can find new meanings for many words and expressions and shed new light on obscure passages.
What Bible reading is all about.
It is important that you understand that it is not enough to read “mechanically”. It is possible to read without understanding what you read. If you want to gain anything from reading the Bible, you must concentrate. Reading involves much more than using your eyes. There are other activities that decide how much you will gain from what you read. We will go through the most important of all these: reading, reflection, making notes, responding.
Reading
Reading is an activity of the eyes. Here are some tips that will help you to be a better reader and to get more out of your reading. The art is to learn something, remember something, or notice something that will help us to be better people.
1. Read aloud!
You will be surprised how many new things you discover when you begin to read aloud to yourself. You will hear words you have never heard before and notice things you have previously missed. (Get into the good habit of turning off all other sounds from radios, tapes etc. when you read the Bible so that you can concentrate on the Word of God.)
2. Read carefully!
You can certainly read quickly but not mechanically. In order to build yourself up you must read carefully, weighing and tasting the words. Each word in the Bible has its meaning, find out what it is. Be like the bee that gathers honey and not like the butterfly that flits around over large areas.
3. Read it again!
Go back again to the beginning of a passage. “Old news is always new when it comes to us with the scent of heaven.”
4. Read peripherally!
This means seeing the surroundings at the same time as looking straight ahead, as we do when we are driving a car. It is possible to travel through a country without seeing it if we only look at the road. It will help us to understand the meaning when we see everything in the wider context.
Reflection - meditation
When God speaks to us we must stop and listen to what He says. In reading the Bible, reflection and meditation is the work of the heart and mind to digest what the eye has seen. Reflection has something of meditation in it where you spend time thinking through God’s Word in order to do His will.
1. Purposeful reflection
The psalmist had a purpose for hiding God’s Word in his heart: that he should not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). The intention of the Christians in Berea in studying was to find the truth (Acts17:11). Do you want to know God better? Do you want to know more about yourself? Do you want to grow spiritually? Do you want to know God’s will? Read and reflect.
2. Use your imagination!
Put yourself in the position of those you read about in the Bible. Try to get “inside” the characters, beyond the letters and see things from their perspective. Taste and feel the words. What lies behind the finer distinctions in meaning?
3. Be humble!
Remember that the Bible is God’s holy Word. God is speaking to us in the Bible. Listen humbly for guidance, exhortation and correction, comfort and encouragement. Read the Bible in order to learn, submit to God’s Word. Do not be proud and think you know better, making yourself a judge over the Bible.
4. Read prayerfully.
If you are humble and ready to learn when you read, you will also pray for light and revelation from the Word. Reading methods and techniques, understanding and common sense will not be much help if God’s Spirit does not enlighten our understanding and give light and comprehension to our inner eye. (Psalm119:18, Eph. 1:17-18)
Be patient when you read. Wait on the Lord, says God’s Word. Give God a chance to speak to you when you read. Don’t drive through the Bible at full speed. Read it with a heart that is quiet and waiting to hear God’s voice. “Stay here a while so that I may give you a message from God.” 1 Sam 9:27.
Making notes
It does not matter how good a memory you have, it is impossible to remember everything you read. If you make a habit of noting down in a book the things which strike you as you read the Bible you will get much more out of your Bible reading. Write down things you notice, questions you have or ways of putting the Word into practice. Someone said: “The pencil is one of the best eyes”.
If you make a habit of writing something about each passage you read in the Bible, it will make your reading of greater benefit to you. A notebook like this will become a goldmine for you, to which you can return and draw out blessing.
Do not be afraid to write in your Bible, underline, highlight etc. so that things are easier to find next time you read them.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself while you read the Bible:
What is the main point in this passage? (This will help you understand other passages.)
What do other verses say about these things?
What does this say to me? How does it apply to me?
What does this mean about my relationship with God and other people?
What command is there I need to obey?
What sin is mentioned that I should avoid?
What example is there here for me to follow?
What promise is given here that I can receive for myself?
What in this passage should be my prayer today?
Responding
God’s Word demands an answer from us, a response. We cannot be neutral towards what we read in the Bible because the Word challenges us and we must make choices. If we are not responding in the right way to what we read in the Bible, the Word will be powerless and will not bear fruit in our lives.
God wants to shape our will and way of thinking through His Word. So we read in order to learn. We look for examples we ought to follow. We can see things we ought to avoid. We allow ourselves to be convicted of sin that we must confess and turn from. We are willing to take on duties and tasks we must carry out as good Christians. We let the Word create faith in promises we can claim.
The response God looks for involves three things: a) Confession of sin, impurity and mistakes (Heb. 4:12, Neh. 9:3). b) Faith which receives and benefits from what God says (Heb. 4:2). c) Obedience - which is faith in action and deeds (Rom. 1:5, 16:26). Faith rests in obedience and faith without works is dead. To hear without acting, leads to judgement. The best thing we can do is to receive God’s Word and keep it in a good and beautiful (Luke 8:15) heart so that we bring forth fruit.