Bible Reading

Yesterday after the sermon I suggested a few ways to begin reading your Bible. There are, of course, an infinite number of approaches to this, including "starting on page 1," but not all approaches are created equal.

So, why not start on page 1? In my experience, first time Bible readers who start on page one get bogged down and rarely make it through the first five books. It's not that Genesis and the first part of Exodus aren't a good read (on the contrary, it's down right licentious at certain points) but it's a long narrative with themes that may not readily appreciated by uninformed readers. In contrast, a reader who understands the overall picture of God's plan of redemption goes back and finds endless significance and meaning.

Why not start with the most interesting book, Revelation? I'm actually teaching a class on Revelation right now and one of my main themes is that the reader who is most familiar with the Old Testament is the reader who finds the deepest significance in Revelation. On the other hand, the reader who is mostly ignorant of the Bible's scope and content will be the one most easily confused and misled.

So the general plan for reading the Bible, especially for a new believer or someone who doesn't yet follow Jesus, is to start with Jesus and his Church. Once you've been introduced to ways of Christ, then read the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament. Once you are familiar with the themes of the Old Testament, then turn to Revelation and read it in that light.

But where do you start specifically? For the first time you might want to sit down and read Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. It's Jesus' longest recorded sermon in the Bible and it's very accessible and applicable. I know others have gotten a lot out of reading the entire book of John as their first introduction to Jesus, but I'm sure any of the four Gospels would do.

Another starting place (ignoring the "plan" listed above) is to read a chapter of proverbs each day. There are 31 chapters so just pick the chapter that matches the day of the month.

I've also seen and used some nice reading plans that take you through the Bible in the year. But that always comes down to a matter of discipline. There's no short cut.