Read the Bible

By Danny Saavedra

Read your Bible . . . I bet you were expecting some other grand revelation or profound piece of advice. It sounds too simple, right? Here’s the thing: it is simple . . . and it should be! It’s simple but significant, and it needs to be said. Read your Bible! 

First, let me explain there’s a difference between reading and studying the Bible. The goal of studying the Bible is to dig in deep, examine context, mine for deeper revelation, identify what the Lord is specifically saying to you, and find distinct personal application. It should go without saying just how important this is as we seek to understand and apply God’s will to our lives and grow more and more like Jesus. We’ll learn more about studying the Bible in the coming days.

The goal behind reading the Bible is to consume big chunks of the Bible, a few chapters at a time—for practicality, let’s say three chapters per day—in order to consume the entirety of the Bible a few times in your life. Why? Because when we do this, we are allowing the entirety of God’s work of redemption to pass before our eyes, enter into our minds, and permeate our hearts. 

Consider Luke 24:27 (NIV), which tells us, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” In addition to that, Jesus claimed, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56 NIV). He said Moses “wrote about me” (John 5:46 NIV) and that “everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44–45 NIV). 

Did you see that? Jesus showed His disciples—and in turn us—how the entirety of the Bible points to Him and speaks of Him. He showed them the fingerprints of His gospel in the Torah, the Psalms, and the Prophets. He pointed out all the moments of foreshadowing and the many times He appeared to His people before the incarnation and performed miracles. Jesus opened the hearts and minds of His disciples so they could truly understand His Word and in turn understand who He was, His work, and their purpose; and He did it through the consumption and revelation of all of Scripture. 

Now, here’s the coolest part: At that time, only the Old Testament spoke of Him, pointed to Him, and foreshadowed Him. Now, we have the Gospels, we have Acts, and we have the letters of the apostles. Today, we can see how all of the Old Testament points to the work of Christ, and we can see how the rest of the New Testament points back to the work of Christ, all of which is outlined in the very center in the Gospels. By reading the entirety of the Bible a few times in our Christian walk, we can see how ALL OF HISTORY, HUMANITY, AND THE WORLD point to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and King!

When we consume the fullness of God’s Word, allowing His entire love letter to pass through our hearts, minds, and eyes, then we’ll experience a new level of appreciation, gratitude, devotion, and a deeper, richer love for Him. And do you want to know a secret? Reading the entire Bible is very, very doable! 

Check this out: It only takes the average person around 70 hours to read through the entirety of the Bible. That works out to about 15 minutes per day. Think about that; by dedicating only a quarter of an hour per day, you can read through the entire Bible in less than a year!

Sure, during that time you can apparently save 15 percent or more on car insurance, you can scroll mindlessly through social media, you can watch a few YouTube videos on random things, or you can watch part of a TV show that may be entertaining but ultimately does nothing to enrich your life. But before you choose to do any of those things, I pray you’ll instead choose to immerse yourself in God’s fully revealed work so you can understand His character and nature on a deeper level!