I’m curious to know how you approach reading your Bible? Particularly, how do you ensure you’re maximizing what you read?
Back in college, Chi Alpha (the campus fellowship I was involved with) did an outreach during the week of freshmen orientation. I remember being out there one day handing out Pop-Ice wearing my Chi Alpha t-shirt.
A guy came up to me and my Pop-Ice cohort curious to know more about the group. Part way through the discussion he saw we had 2 Corinthians 5:20 on our shirts and asked what the verse said.
I looked at my cohort. She looked at me. We stared at the guy blankly.
We had no clue what 2 Corinthians 5:20 said.
Needless to say I immediately went and memorized that verse.
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
My motivation for wanted to regularly read through the entire Bible is similar. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to profess and stand for something you are unfamiliar with.
So for that reason I’ve read through the Bible twice (mostly) within the past two years. But I’ve gotten to the point where I need to shake things up a bit, which is why I’m soliciting different ideas from you.
There are a few goals I’m looking to achieve with my Bible reading.
- Regularly reading through the entire Bible.
- Applying what I read in my daily life.
- Learning more about the Bible.
I’d like to read fast enough that I can familiarize myself with the main characters, history, flow of events, major milestones, etc. of the Bible.
But I’d also like to read slow enough I give God sufficient opportunity to speak to me about what I read.
And all of that should be rooted in sound doctrine/theology and knowledge of the Word. So I’d enjoy reading a good commentary on top of all of that.
So! How do you approach reading the Bible?