Reading The Bible 101Sample

It’s a Lifetime Pursuit

Reading the Bible is a lifetime pursuit. It requires patience. It’s beautiful that you desire to want to know the Word. It’s good that you’re spiritually hungry. 1st Peter says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” Have you ever seen newborn babies take a bottle? Their mouths are all over the place because they’re hungry. 

Now that you know your heart is in the right place, that the desire and spiritual hunger is within you, then what’s next? You get started. Being part of your local church and listening to your pastor is a great start. This is important because it is part of the influence and teaching of the Bible in your life on a weekly basis. Learn to be a good listener during sermons at your church. Take notes throughout the sermon. Taking notes will actually help keep you focused. Also, follow up with the sermon by looking up the passages that were taught that week. Pastors want their members to learn Scripture, not sermons. If a sermon is a good sermon, that’s exactly what it does – it teaches Scripture. That helps you to grow in your knowledge of God’s Word. 

The next step to beginning to read the Bible is understanding the structure of it as a book. You want to learn how the Old and New Testament are structured. Study the structure of the Bible, answering questions like: why is there an Old and a New Testament? I encourage you to begin reading and studying the Bible in a way that will produce a well-rounded knowledge of it. 

For example, I like to suggest to new believers to start off with the Gospels in the New Testament. The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books allow you to know your Savior better because they’re about the life of Jesus. You will read about His death, burial, and resurrection. The book of John tends to be one that people find easier to read in some ways. It’s a great book to start off with. 

The book of Psalms is another great start. This book has so much of the believer’s heart in our walk with God on display. Proverbs is a book written by the wisest man, King Solomon. It’s filled with words of wisdom, and asking God for wisdom in the earliest stages of your Christian life (or any time of your life) is a great beginning. Proverbs also has 31 chapters, so you could read a chapter a day throughout the month. 

Spend time reading the Word of God, both in the Old and New Testament.