It’s important to point out that there are really some solid reasons why professing evangelical Christians do not read their Bibles every day.
Here are some:
- Not on the priority list. “It’s nice, and could be helpful, but not I’ve got other pressing responsibilities that need to be addressed now.”
- It is not relevant for today. “What does Moses have to do with paying my bills…?”
- Confusion on how to study the Bible. “Where do I begin studying my Bible? Is it Bible studies, is it just reading, or is there a training method that could increase my understanding?”
- Overwhelmed by the size and scope of the Bible. “The Bible is not only big but made up of 66 different books. How could a person possibly study something so big without a seminary degree?”
- Too convicting. Sin is exposed. “When I read my Bible, I’m made aware of my mistakes, and I don’t like that.”
However, when we examine what the Bible says about how itself, we see that it grows, develops, and matures the spiritually discerning (1 Cor. 2:14-16):
- The Bible is a means to true spiritual growth (1 Pet. 2:2).
- The Bible is the only means to true spiritual maturity (Heb. 5:11-14).
- The Bible is profitable for training in doctrine or teaching, rebuke, correction, and training in Righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Basic Principles for Bible Reading
Before we jump into how to read the Bible for everyday life, we must begin with some basic principles:
- Recognize that Bible reading takes time. Since we forget more than we remember, daily time in the Bible will begin to produce fruit of understanding years and years later.
- Manage your time by establishing a daily Bible reading routine.
- Focus your time through discernment, which means prioritizing time to read your Bible and saying no to less important tasks and activities.
- Be humble and patient in the journey of understanding your Bible.
- Be consistent…this is something you do every day as a non-negotiable. And if you miss, you double up the next day.
- See the Bible as a window to God (a means to the end, which is to enjoy God and make Him known), not an end in and of itself. The Bible (and understanding the Bible) is not what we worship, but rather the One who gifted it to us. This is huge–simple–but huge as it pertains to avoiding self-righteousness (for doing, reading, or not doing and not reading).
- Use a journal. Write regularly. Find a time, either morning or evening to write. Don’t write a novel for each entry, but rather make it a goal to write 1 or 2 sentences each day. For each journal entry, put as a heading the day, the date, and the time. You could simply write about something you witnessed in the day, something you’re praying about, something that moved you in the Word. It doesn’t matter, just write 1 or 2 sentences (if possible, everyday) with a heading that has day, date, and time above.
What is the Message of the Bible?
The Bible is a grand narrative of God’s redemption of a rebellious humanity. The story of the Bible begins with fellowship in a Garden and ends with fellowship in the New Jerusalem. Throughout the entire narrative God’s benevolence, love, and grace are on our display. Despite man—in his broken condition because of sin—God still works through Him to bring out man’s redemption. As such, mankind was made for relationships, and was placed in an environment to flourish within such vertical (God-to-man) and horizontal (man-to-man) relationships.
It was here where man—serving as God’s vice-regent—was to rule over creation, and in so doing to display God’s image by his rule through obedience to God. Man was not to decide between right and wrong but was rather to be a conduit of God’s rule. As man walked according to God’s plan there would be blessing, fruitfulness, and he would subsequently multiply throughout the earth. God made man in His image, male and female He created them. Theirs was to be a life of exhibition, displaying their Creator.
As such, the biblical story begins with much promise for God’s creation, but swiftly descends into chaos the moment the first created humans, Adam and Eve, sinned by disobeying God’s ordinances. A serpent (who remains the source of evil) deceived Eve as Adam failed to lead according to God’s standards. From that moment on, mankind’s heart and nature were evil and rebellious. However, God’s plan for redeeming humanity back to His fellowship was immediate with a promise granted from God that the Seed of Woman would one day crush the serpent’s head.
God promised that He would deal with evil and sin by dealing with the source of sin—Satan. The ultimate demonstration that sin still exists is the presence of physical death. Mankind was not intended to die physically, but the moment they sinned they experienced an instantaneous spiritual death followed by physical death—good nature became bad nature—and humanity’s heart was corrupt.
Thus, mankind’s heart would need to be transformed for man to truly listen and love God. But, since man’s heart was still corrupt, his path was toward sin—spiraling out of control. The spread of sin was initially stayed by a universal flood that killed all of humanity except for Noah and his seven family members, followed by a scattering of humanity through the confusion of their common language. God’s plan for redeeming was then vividly seen by a promise He made to a man named Abraham.
The promise to Abraham was that he would have land, seed, and be a blessing to the nations. This promise continued through his progeny, and ultimately his great grandson, Judah, was promised that in accordance with God’s plan to restore humanity to His original blessing and fellowship, a King would come through his tribe. However, man’s evil heart continued to rebel, and because of transgressions, God put forward laws through the prophet, Moses, (Mosaic Covenant) to govern Abraham’s family for them to have a tutor, copy, and shadow until the Seed of Woman would arrive.
In the meantime, a shepherd-king arose in the line of Abraham’s family, David, who was a type of king came from the tribe of Judah that represented characteristics of the ultimate King. Subsequently, David received a promise from God that from his house would come the Messiah—the One who would finally deal with the thing that separates man from God and is ultimately man’s greatest need—sin. Additionally, the law taught Abraham’s family to listen and to love God as a kingdom of priests to the nations, as well as to be a conduit of God’s character for all humanity to be reconciled to God as they anticipated the coming of the Seed: Messiah/King.
The spread of God’s love and mercy was to come through Abraham’s family by their walking in fear and in accordance to the law, and would be a blessing to all nations. However, they continued to rebel, so God sent prophets to guide His people, Israel, to be faithful to the Law. Abraham’s family was not faithful to God or His Word, and as a result they were ultimately exiled from their land given and promised to them, they were dispersed among the Nations, and finally subjugated to serving the Nations (who are being ruled by the serpent).
It was into this world—in the fullness of time—that the Seed (Jesus Christ) finally arrived. He was born of a woman and born under the law so that He would redeem those who were under the law. He proclaimed the good news gospel—calling all men to repent—and performed many signs and wonders so that all would believe in Him for the forgiveness of their sins in order that, as one body—the Church—their hearts could be circumcised (transformed) in order that all may listen and love God while they endure suffering inflicted by the serpent’s system. Additionally, all humanity awaits the restoration of ultimate fellowship and rule of God in the New Jerusalem that will come about when the King returns to His created world and rules.
All the Bible points to the promise of God’s redemption through Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As such the goal of this paper is to document the unfolding of God’s promises and how His Kingdom will be present on earth as it is in heaven.
Next time, we’ll examine a simple method for HOW to study the Bible.
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— November 24, 2021