How To Read The Bible

A parachute. A Bible. A bottle of medicine. An umbrella.
What do these things have in common? None of them will do you any good unless you open them!

In my last post, I started to explain what our responsibility is toward the Bible. Hopefully, by this point, you already have a grasp on what it is and why it’s unlike any other book on earth. We’ve seen that it deserves a level of honor and respect that many “Christians” are not giving it today. This is a book that should always take first place in our lives - one that should govern our actions, our words, and even our very thoughts!

A lot of believers would agree with me - at least in theory - when I say that we should base our lives on the pages of Scripture. But we constantly seem to fall short of putting that idea into practice. After all, how can you expect to have a life built on the Word if you never read it?

Read It Daily

1 Peter 2:2 “...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…”

God’s Word is like food for our spirit. It’s what we need to grow and become stronger. In fact, the Bible is more important to us than natural food. Just look at what Moses says in Deuteronomy 8:3 “...that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

Moses didn’t just say that though, he lived it! He spent forty days on Mount Sinai with no food - just listening to the words of God. After returning to camp long enough to smash a cow...he then returned to the mountaintop for another forty days! He was one of several men in scriptures (Jesus and Elijah are two others) who knew this truth: The spiritual food of God’s Word will sustain your body even during the lack of natural food!

The heart’s cry of every believer in the church should be found in Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” Notice that it says God’s words were found. They will not just fall into your heart. You must seek them out.

Your spirit craves this Book. It longs for it even more than your body wants supper after a hard day of work. Listen to what your spirit says about God’s word; it’s found in Job 23:12, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

Reading your Bible is so much more than a hobby! It’s the only thing that will bring you life!

How many times have we heard Christians excuse themselves by saying “I’m just not a big reader.” or “Reading books really isn’t my thing.” Really? As if the Bible was just another good book? As if it was nothing more than the words of another good author? Christian, listen to me: Don’t be deceived. This isn’t a matter of you being interested in reading a book. This isn’t a matter of having time to spare. This is a matter of eating to live.

Stop starving yourself! Read this book every day!

Find Yourself In It

Luke 4:17-21 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus didn’t just read the Scriptures mechanically, He knew what it said about Him. He knew where He was in those words...He identified Himself in them. In Hebrews 10:7, we see Jesus’ own words as He stepped from Heaven into the earth, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’” I challenge you to do the same; find where you are written about in the Book.

When you read your Bible, put yourself in it! Read it as if it were written to you. There’s a difference between mindlessly reading “by grace you have been saved through faith” and reading it as if it said “by grace I have been saved through my faith!” The first way will produce good doctrine. The second way will lead to good doctrine and a changed life!

I remember when my life took a radical turn and my whole relationship with God changed. It was about two years ago as I was driving home and listening to a powerful faith preacher in my car. While he was preaching, he quoted Mary’s words from Luke 1:38, “Be unto me according to your word”. When I heard him say that, it dropped from my head into my heart….I could have what God’s Word says! I could actually receive the promises in the Word, just because God said so! From that day on, my Bible-reading time has never been the same.

Christian, you need to find yourself in the Bible. Read it as if it applied to you...because it does! 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that “...all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” So if you’re in Him, then those words apply to you my friend!

Keep It In Your Mind Through The Day

Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

In the longest chapter of the Bible (Psalm 119), we’re told no fewer than eight times to meditate on God’s Word. This Psalm echoes what God said in Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” Clearly, we are supposed to go beyond simply reading this book.

There are two Hebrew words that we translate as “meditate” - haga and siyach. These words are both used to describe what we should do with God’s Word. Together, they give us several concepts of what our relationship with the Bible should be the:

#1 - Meditation means to mutter to yourself.

This is why God told Joshua not to let this Book depart from his mouth, but to meditate on it day and night. This carries the meaning of speaking the Word, rehearsing it to yourself over and over again. This is the idea behind Psalm 77:12 “I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.”

God’s Word should be on our tongue throughout the day and night. It should be what we are speaking to ourselves constantly. This is the meaning that Joshua 1:8 brings out; we are not to let this Book depart from our mouth (not just our eyes).

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. It’s obvious then, that silently reading God’s Word isn’t enough. Somehow, we should be hearing it too! So speak it out loud...rehearse what you’re reading using your own voice.

This is a great habit to get into...when you’re reading your Bible each day, read it out loud to yourself. This will allow you to hear the word, and that hearing will bring faith.

#2 - Meditation means to call back to mind and to imagine.

Psalm 63:6 “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”

Don’t allow yourself to read God’s Word once and then never think about it again. Keep it in your mind through the day. Remember what it says!

Meditation on God’s Word will keep your mind focused on what it should be. Philippians 4:8 shows us what your mind will look like when it’s kept on God’s Word: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”’

Doesn’t this seem like a mindset that you want? Where would you find things like this to think about? There is only one place to find thoughts that meet this standard - the Word of God!

Keeping this Word on your mind has a major benefit...It will bring peace that no one else can find! There is an indescribable peace that comes from meditating on God’s Word. Look at what Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You…” To keep your mind on the Bible is to keep your mind on God. If you’ll do that, you will be kept in perfect peace!

Here’s another great habit to have...don’t let yourself read this Book mindlessly. Use your imagination as you read it. Imagine the stories as you read them. As you find time in your day, use your imagination and your voice at the same time, and tell yourself the stories from God’s word. This is the single greatest purpose for the imagination God gave you.

#3 - Meditation means to study.

Psalm 77:6 I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.

There is so much more to the Scriptures than just plain reading. As you begin to grow in the Word, you’ll begin to notice how one passage connects to another. You’ll see that the Bible explains itself perfectly.

Studying the Bible isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of “studying the Bible.” This is not something that should be left to preachers only! Every believer should have their own study habits.

If you’re new to the idea of studying God’s Word, let me give you a few pointers:

1 - If you see that your Bible has a study note that cross-references another verse, stop your reading for a moment and look it up. This habit of looking up cross-references has several benefits:
It will begin to help you get a bigger picture of the Bible as a whole.
It will help you get some practice looking up passages in Scripture and make you more familiar with where different books are located.
Taking the time to look deeper into what the Bible says will also help you remember it better later.

2 - If something you’re reading in the Bible reminds you of another passage you’ve read, take the time to track that down again and read it. This memory of another passage is actually the Holy Spirit at work, revealing something to you. Don’t ignore it! In fact, it would be beneficial for you to write down the reference in your Bible once you find it. In the future, you can use these as your own cross-references.

3 - Keep a highlighter, a pen, and a notebook handy while you’re reading. If God shows you something in a passage, write it down! I would even recommend writing in the pages of your own Bible - write out your own cross-references and notes based on what God starts to show you.

Come to God’s Word prepared for Him to speak to you. When someone attends a college lecture, what do they usually bring? A pen and paper, right? If you go to an office meeting at work, you bring the same thing. Why? Because, as Mark Twain said,  “the dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory.” If you truly believe that God wants to speak to you - be ready to jot it down!

4 - Use a concordance. A concordances simply lists when the Bible uses certain words. Some Bibles have smaller concordances in the back of them. These will give you a good start to searching through the Scriptures.

Some bookstores sell larger concordances (called exhaustive concordances) that list every word in the Bible and all the times that word is used. If you can get the hang of using these, they make great tools for studying. But their name suits them - they can definitely be exhausting!

The most effective study tool you’ll ever have is the machine you’re using to read this post. Online Bible tools allow you to search through the Scriptures instantly, for any word, combination of words, or phrases. For example if you want to look at everything the Bible says about God’s love for us - running a search for “love” on biblegateway will show you everything you want to know. You will then be able to sort through the results and find the scriptures that apply to the topic you're studying. Blueletterbible is another useful site, with an excellent group of study tools - such as interlinear dictionaries and commentaries.

So start with the basics...read this Book every day.
As you’re reading it...keep in mind that it was written to you.
After you’ve read it...think about it throughout the day.
Finally...begin to study what it says deeper.

As you develop your relationship with God’s Word, I promise you that your life will change! Remember this point from our last post, "Your relationship with God always equals your relationship with His Word."