A friend of mine recently approached me and asked for suggestions on how he could improve his bible reading as he felt that his time in the scriptures is lacking in consistency and direction. Although I am no expert on bible reading, I have come a long way in my own personal bible reading plan. There was a point in my life (consequently the age my friend is right now) where my bible was covered in dust. The gold edged pages were stuck together ever since they were sprayed at the bible factory. I didn’t think I needed the word, and the occasional time that I went to church I just trusted what the preacher read to be true.
Needless to say, when my friend approached me asking for advice I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to provide him with a meaningful response. There are many different types of bible reading plans and strategies. Some people prefer to open up their bible to a random page and read that. Some read their bible from start to finish. Others use bible reading plans such as Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan, which actually allows a reader to read much of the Bible multiple times a year. Whatever the strategy or plan, one thing is certain, a Christian needs to be in the word every day!
If you are like me you probably enjoy both reading through entire chapters of the bible and slowly studying certain sections of the bible whether it be at church Sunday morning or in your neighborhood bible study. For this reason, I am going to be posting a series on effective and Fruitful bible reading methods. My aim in these posts are to encourage you to remain consistent in your bible reading commitments, and to help you interpret the scriptures more accurately (which will make your reading more fruitful). It is easy to feel overwhelmed about bible reading. The bible is so thick, it takes days to get through certain sections, and the language is 2000 years old. Despite these difficulties, I truly believe that you can turn a once seemingly dreadful experience into something that is highly effective and fruitful in you walk with God.
The point of the first post of my series on is to emphasize the importance of making the initial commitment to get in the word every day. Here are the questions and comments my friend brought to me followed by my responses (which I have expanded for clarity):
- I feel like I go through phases of many weeks where I’ll study every day and feel so on fire for God and then have a stretch of time where I get busy and shove it aside for a few weeks, causing me to lose drive and do stupid things.
- This has happened 3 times in the past 7 months about. Is it the motives of my heart?
- Should I pace myself and come up with a schedule instead of every day so I don’t give up hope?
- What did you do when you were in high school and college to stay consistent?
- Is it key to fellowship on what you are reading or is it okay to just study the passages of your choice on your own?
- How did I get to where I am right now in my walk with God? By hearing and reading the Word of God. Before I took my walk with God seriously, I was not reading the bible, praying, going to church every week, nor was I involved with my local church. To put the icing on the cake, I was disrespectful to my parents which resulted in essentially being kicked out of my parents house at the same age you are now. I did not have a bible reading plan in high school. At that time in my life I was still angry and sad and was drinking heavily. There was a point in my life where I realized that God’s Word is the “Lamp to my feet and light to my path” Psalm 119:105. Without this lamp, I was walking around aimlessly in life and doing “stupid stuff”. Knowing that consistent bible reading helps prevent you from doing “stupid stuff” it only makes sense that you make a commitment and stick with it.
- The word of God is a key contributor in transforming your life. Look, whether you are downloading sermons from your favorite pastors and listening to them all week long on your I pod; Getting involved in a bible reading plan that suits your individual needs; Attending church every weekend and sitting under the biblical teaching of your pastor and taking notes and thinking about them all week long; Joining a small group of college age guys who want to study the bible and hold each other accountable; God’s word will transform your life.
- Set a reasonable goal for your bible reading. Don’t set a goal to read the bible twice in 1 year if you know you cannot even read it once in 1 year. When I set goals, I always set them in a way that is challenging (though not unrealistic). Set a reasonable goal, one that you know you can accomplish. If you will have a hard time working through your own bible every day – pickup one of John Macarthur’s Bible in a year bibles. They take about 20-30 minutes at most to read each days section and each day has a short commentary explaining an important theme in that days text.
- What I recommend you do before going out and buying a new bible is to challenge yourself to read your current bible every day for the entire month. Maybe start on November 1st and make a commitment to read every day in the month of November for 30 minutes a day. As the weeks fly by it gets easier and easier to stick to it. I also recommend putting down the books published by your favorite Christian authors and focusing on reading the bible instead. If you complete your daily bible reading portion and still have a hunger to read something else, great. However, do not read something else at the expense of your daily bible reading.
- Also, I like to set my alarm clock an hour earlier in the morning to do my bible reading. If I ever catch myself trying to get my bible reading in during the middle of the day, it never fails, I always get a phone call, or some other distraction comes up. If you wake up 30 minutes earlier each day and get in the Word, you will begin to look forward to your bible reading time. You will miss it on those days that you slept in, and like you mentioned in your comment, it will reflect in your day to day life.
- Choose a translation and bible that you are comfortable with. If you are using a KJV and you find yourself spending twice the time just trying to read the text, get a translation that you can read comfortably. Remember, bible reading should be enjoyable; it should not be an agonizing experience. I recommend the ESV; it is as readable as the NIV and nearly as accurate as the KJV or NASB. If you are one of my many Slavic friends and you are uncomfortable reading through your Russian bible, get an English bible that you are comfortable with. The bible is not the book you want to use for your personal Rosetta Stone. The bible is the book that you want to be reading through with comfort.
- I also recommend that you buy a bible that you want to hold in your hands for hours a week. A huge study bible is not easy to hold in your hands for a long period of time. A tiny compact bible is painful on the eyes to read. A cheap binding gets dirty fast and rips and tears as you use it. For that reason I tell people to invest in a good quality leather shell reference bible with a font of at least 9 pt. It is worth spending 100-150 on a bible that will serve you a long time and is easy to read.
The Religious Nerd 
Great tips. It’s hard to stick to s plan but once its a habit its a lot harder to break. I heard somewhere that it takes like 4 weeks to make something a routine. Especial enjoy when your alarm goes off extra early and wakes the baby 😉
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Thank you for the “first” comment Luda. And I am sorry that my alarm wakes Emmalyn up in the morning. She makes up for it though in her lengthy afternoon naps. Be encouraged in your personal bible reading schedule! It will bless you abundantly.
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Brandon hi — love this post, love this blog, love what you are doing — Godspeed brother!
I love all of your tips — excellent — I have also told people to get a bible that they will love holding and reading — I have seen far too many people go out and get the bulky ESV study bible — with vigor and enthusiasm — only for it to begin to collect dust, as you mention.
Great post — thank you! Looking forward to the next installment on this subject!
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Bogdan, Thank you for your comments! I have several “study bibles” all of which are currently either in the box they came in or sitting on my shelf gaining dust. As you mentioned, carrying the bulky study bible can become very uncomfortable. If I wanted to lift a dumbell I would go to the gym 🙂
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