How to Start Reading the Bible
No matter if you’re starting to read the Bible or just want to get more committed, there aren’t too many steps to reading your Bible in order to get something out of it. Really, at the heart of it all, you’re just trying to get to know God more and hear from him. If you accomplish that, then you’ve won.
My typical Bible study method that I do in the mornings is reading scripture, whether it’s one verse or one chapter. I have a color coding highlight and underline system that helps me focus on different things that might be happening in the verse. I sometimes look at different translations, and then if one verse or phrase sticks out, I’ll look at what the original words mean and what I can learn there. I’ll write any thoughts or takeaways down at the end, or sometimes rephrase a scripture in a more detailed understanding of what’s happening, and then end in prayer for how that scripture is interesting to my life.
But I didn’t start there.
Honestly, it’s taken me years to get to the point where I enjoy my time with God and miss it when I don’t spend time with him. And looking back, I definitely feel like it’s been the most effective ways to grow as an individual and my relationship with God. That’s the most important thing to remember about spending time in the Bible; it’s about building your relationship with God. If you go into it thinking I have to do this, then you probably won’t get much out of it because you’re focused on the task and not the relationship.Â
It’s the same as a teenager going to dinner with their family against their will and being miserable the whole time. At best, the teen is miserable and gets nothing out of it. At worst, they make everyone else miserable too.Â
Instead, start with the image of coming home after a long trip and getting to see your family. Talking with them about what they’ve done, telling them what you’ve done. Showing pictures of what happened while you were away, maybe going out and doing something special together. That’s what I want you to think of when you spend time studying the Bible. It’s you coming home to God and reconnecting on what’s happened since the last time you sat down with him. Now that you have that image in your head let’s talk about how to start and what to do.
Make It a Habit
The best way to grow a relationship is to spend consistent time together. Rule number one when you start dating someone: always plan the next date. So, if you want to increase your time with God, either pick a certain time a day, or if you feel like your time is inconsistent when you are done for one day, pick what time you’ll spend with God tomorrow and put it on your schedule.Â
Now, everyone wants to know how much time you have to spend reading your Bible for it to count. Well, all of the time you spend counts, but if you want to know what’s best, the answer is there isn’t a time minimum or maximum because that’s a checklist, and we’re looking at a journey. So, the ultimate goal of studying your Bible is getting to a place where the length of time isn’t the concern but the quality of time. In addition to that, we want you to get to a place where you enjoy your time with God enough that you actually want to find more time to spend with him. So now, let’s talk about how we get there.
Read One Verse a Day.Â
If just sitting and reading the Bible does not sound fun yet, then start with one verse.
Proverbs is a good place to start for this, or a great resource is the YouVersion Bible. You can tell the app to remind you to read the daily scripture or a longer Bible reading. But this at least gets you in the habit of thinking about God and what he wants for your life. Committing to one verse a day starts to shift your focus and priority back toward God. As a bonus, in this stage, you can set a couple of reminders throughout the day to read one verse or commit to reading a verse every time you go to a certain place or room. Such as, when you get in your car or before getting out, you read a verse. These are easy ways to start shifting to making God a part of your everyday life.
Move Up to 5 Minutes a Day
Now that you’re comfortable just reading the Bible, we’re going to commit to a time, kind of. Oftentimes, we feel like we don’t have time to read a large piece of scripture, but really, you can read a lot in 5 minutes, and there are lots of 5 minute times in our day, such as standing in lines or waiting for water to boil for dinner, or when we first wake up before we start our social scrolling. Pick one and set a timer so you don’t spend the whole five minutes checking the clock. Also, pick one book of the Bible to read. I recommend Psalms, Luke, or James as starting books.
Next, Set Aside 10-15 Minutes Each Day to Read Â
This may feel like a lot. But as you start to settle into your study time, focusing on investing in your relationship with God, you’ll find yourself caring less about the time and more about the quality of what you read and talk to him about. The timer is just to help you feel like it’s possible and to set the time aside to make it happen. There may be moments where one verse is all you need before you know what God wants you to do, and you talk through it with him. You also might get to the point where you get lost in reading the Story of God. These are prime relationship mentalities to develop. And there will be times when you’re distracted and your time isn’t as fruitful as you would like, but we’re not going to experience an aha moment every time we sit down with God. That would be a little overwhelming if God was giving us something new to learn and apply to our life every time we talked with him. But when we invest time with him, he will give us what we need for the day ahead.Â
The Point
Like I’ve said before, the point of your time with God is to build your relationship and create space to hear what He wants for you. Some days, you’ll spend time reading and feel like there wasn’t much takeaway at the end of all of it. Sometimes, we read and walk away with some interesting new information, but it doesn’t really feel like there is much to apply to our personal lives. Somedays, we feel like every verse we read is speaking to us. But here are some questions to keep in mind as you read that help you focus on what God might be trying to say through your reading.
- What is God saying, and what does he want me to do about it?
- How did this person respond to God? How should I copy or not copy that in my own life?
- Where and How did God show up in this story? How has God shown up in similar ways in my life?
- What does this story or scripture tell me about God and his relationship with us/me?
Stay Weird,
