[This is a part of The Most Important Book Ever Written Series.]
Obviously if you’re a Christian then you have a Bible. And if you’re in pursuit of the way then reading the Bible is probably high in your list of priorities.
Photo courtesy of "khrawlings"
But have you ever thought about the best way to approach your Bible reading? It seems to me that there are three ways people read their Bible;
1) The “Flick and Pick” Method
With this method you more or less open the book and start reading. The hope is that God will direct your flicking and picking.
Pro’s – The good thing about this method is that it really relies on God to direct your reading. This can result in some great times of encouragement, should you land on a passage that’s relevant and easily understood.
Con’s – There’s a classic joke that demonstrates the downside of this approach. It goes like this;
A man was looking for direction in life so he closed his eyes, opened the bible and poked his finger at a page at random. He read: Matthew 27:5, (Judas) “Then he went away and hanged himself.” Not impressed, he tried again and read Luke 10:37, “Go, and do likewise.” He tried one last time and read: John 13:27, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”
To be honest, we’ve probably all approached the bible this way but the reality is that it’s quite a lazy approach to God’s word.
You’d never walk into a movie half way through and think you know exactly what’s going on and where the story line is at. You can pick it up as you go, you can presume a lot, but if you don’t watch the whole thing you simply wont get it.
God’s word is powerful and His Holy Spirit will use whatever way we approach the scriptures, but let’s dig a little deeper, and approach God’s word with some reverence.
2) The “Just The Good Bits” Method
I had a friend who would search the Bible to find to “just the good bits”. In other words the parts that would be encouraging, or uplifting. She used it like a self-help, or a pick me up kind of book. It seems that this is not an totally uncommon method.
Pro - There is no doubt that the bible does contain many encouraging verses and passages. This method of reading will obviously encourage the reader.
Con’s - When we approach scripture this way we end up leaving out a lot of it. We can see the problem with this when we turn to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which says;
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The bible itself doesn’t allow us to just take the parts we like as encouragement and forget the rest. It tells us that it’s ALL important, it’s ALL useful and therefore we should approach it ALL.
It’s a little like only reading the verses people send on twitter and expecting to grow and mature as a Christian… it’s just not going to happen.
3) A Consistent Systematic Approach
This method involves systematically working though the bible, book by book, on a day by day basis. Over a period of time the reader has read, meditated on and applied the entire bible.
Pro’s - Over time this method will give the reader the best overall knowledge of the whole bible. The nature of this systematic approach will mean that a more accurate understanding also. This in turn will mean that the reader will tend not to take verses completely out of context.
Con’s - This method can be hard work and does take a dedicated commitment on the readers part. It’s not easy to knuckle down and keep reading through some of the more difficult sections of scripture. This method can easily just turn into an exercise in reading a book. Without any effort at all the living word of God turns into just knowledge and facts.
There’s no doubt that God will use His word in the lives of those who read it. But as we see in Hebrews 11:6, He rewards those who diligently seek Him. It’s from this perspective that we all should approach the word of God, which ever method we use.
Question: How do you read the bible? Do you use one of the above methods?
Having spent some time at bible schools, I can attest to how great it is to systematically go through the bible. I had tried the “Flick and Pick” method before. I always seemed to end up on the condemnation passages when I did that though :p
Learning how to have the discipline to systematically go through the bible on my own is the part that I’m working on now. I’ve seen the benefits of it, now I just need to keep going with it.
Thanks Kelly, appreciate your comment. It seems we’ve all tried the “flick and pick” but then revert back to some sort of systematic approach for ongoing study and devotion. The discipline is the part we all struggle with but that’s where the gold is!!
I have used all three of the methods above, and tend to use them still depending on the circumstances. Like if I’m waiting in the car for some reason, I may just grab my Bible and open it at random or to a certain book (my bible always seems to open at James)and do some reading/meditating/praying.
Most of the time I try to study on certain themes in the Word, and try to find a common thread between scriptures. For example I may look for passages reguarding grace and mercy, or God’s justice. This method is good for putting together blog posts or writing a sermon (I don’t preach personally, but I’m prepared). The important thing is to get the entire context, and the only way to do that is to read all of it.
I like the idea of always turning to the word when there’s a spare moment. There’s definitely something in that approach to life!!
I systematically read the bible. And, I am often frustrated by the other two groups. As both don’t understand what the bible is and instead try to make it a self help book. When, in fact, it is quite the opposite.
Thanks for your comments Tom. I can understand where you’re coming from, but we’re all at different stages on the journey so need to extend grace as we lead others. Agree?
For me selecting a Bible reading plan (prof horner’s) and listening to the Word daily has been life changing…simply because I am loving the breadth of understanding gained by reading parts of the Old and parts of the new at the same time. There are many parts I meditate on regularly aka “the good bits” (like Ps 119, romans 12 etc..) just because.. And the flick and pick is fun to do sometimes but it isn’t what sustains me but rather something extra. In the Words of the message from Matthew 7 these are Words to build a life on ! That is my daily quest & heartfelt prayer.
Thanks for that Judy. I love that thought “words to build a life on”… the scriptures certainly at are that!! Well done on your approach, it sounds like you have it covered!!
The one truly amazing thing about GODS WORD is that it is continually new and fresh..there is alway some thing I get a new vision of or something I have never seen before..suddenly the LIGHT SHINES and pulls it up for my attention.the more I read ,the more I realize how much I don’t know,but I also realize how much the FATHER really loves me and has a grand plan just for me!KEEP READING…. KEEP LOOKING..