Leadership Thought: How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth.

Dear Friend,

The question I would ask you is "how’s your Bible reading going?" What’s your plan and program for feeding and filling your heart and soul with the wisdom of the Word?

You have probably heard the statement, “A bible that’s falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn’t," and that is more than just a cute cliché. Believers need to be engaged in a daily, systematic study of God’s Word if they want to maximize their spiritual value. Sadly, however, the daily reading of the Word of God it is not the priority it should be for many believers.

I have talked with lifelong believers who have little understanding of the importance bible reading is to their spiritual life, and less knowledge about how to undertake a study of His Word.

I would like to suggest a few thoughts that might help you commence a meaningful study of God’s truth as found on the pages of the Bible. However, let me say that there is no one way to read the bible. Everyone must find what works for them. The secret in reading and studying the bible is not how you do it, but that you do it, and that you do it consistently.

For many years I favored using one of the many plans for reading through the entire Bible every year. I found, however, that in reading four or five chapters a day from different parts of the Bible, I wouldn’t always absorb and retain the information I desired. At times I would find myself rushing to play catch up because I was behind in my reading schedule. I was reading “to keep score,” if you will,  rather than reading to absorb truth that would lead go life change. My reading would sometimes become a routine, something that I had to do rather than something that I "get" to do. Rather than reading for life change, I was reading to fulfill a requirement

Consequently, I found a need to slow down in my reading, even taking as much as a month to read and study a particular book of the Bible. In the last four months I have read and digested 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd  Peter, Galatians, and now I am studying Romans.  I am also reading one or two chapters a day from Exodus. as I want to maintain a balance between my reading in the Old and New Testaments.

I like variety and changing up my approaches to Bible study, but the most important thing for me is not what I read or how I read, but that I read, and that I do it consistently.

Reading through the bible each year provides one with an overview of the bible, but I find value in reading and studying a particular book until I have thoroughly digested its truth, and I feel like I have some degree of mastery of it.

In studying Galatians, a six-chapter book, I read the first three chapters every day for two weeks.  I would read through those three chapters each day carefully marking and underlining important truths and information with colored pens. I would read through the chapters using different translations. I happened to use The Living Bible, The Message Bible, and the NIV bible translations. I would have a companion commentary-I like Warren Wiersbe’s  With the Word,  which is one of the best and most condensed bible commentaries I know, as well as The Life Application Bible, in an effort to break down each of the chapters.

After reading I would type out the key points I wanted to remember from my reading. Each day I would discover different truths that I had not previously seen in reading from a previous translation, and I would highlight them. I would then take time to close my eyes and try to envision the information I had read and how it might impact how I wanted to live my life. I would frequently add to my notes each day and periodically read through those notes to remind me of what I had been learning from just those three chapters.

When I felt like I knew those three chapters well enough, which was two or three weeks, I then went on to study chapters four through six, repeating the same process. Once completed I filed away my notes for periodic review and to help insure, I retained as much of the  information as possible.

There are countless ways to study the bible and the important point to remember is that you should read the bible not only for information, but for application. You want to absorb its life changing truth so that it will make a difference in your life. As it has been said,  “It is not how many times you have been through the bible that counts; it is how many times the bible has been through you. You mark your bible, and your Bible marks you.

Each one of us must develop our own personal reading style or plan, and I encourage you to use the one that best works for you. So, grab a few different translations,  a good inexpensive commentary, some markers, a notebook to write down key thoughts, and most importantly a commitment to daily mine for the valuable truth from His Word that will forever change your life.

Yours in faith,

Tom

PS  I would love to hear what you have found helpful in your study of the Bible, so please let me know and perhaps I can share your insights and experiences to assist me and others who are looking to make Bible reading a more valuable and life changing experience