Christians consistently talk about reading their Bible, but to someone who hasn’t done it before it can seem really intimidating. Reading your Bible, studying your Bible doesn’t have to be scary. It can start out very simple.
Set up a time and get started. Here are six easy steps to guide you through the process.
- Grab your Bible. Yes, it’s really that simple. You can use a physical Bible — of any translation — or you can use an app. If you come to Quest, you’ll likely see the New Living Translation (NLT) on the screen, so that could be a place to start. The YouVersion app is available for your phone and will even read it to you if you’d like.
- Pick something to read. There are reading plans all over the internet that can help you decide what to read. Or you can follow along with our devotionals on Facebook. Senior Pastor John Kenney recommends starting with the gospel of John or the book of Romans. You really can’t go wrong with any of the books of the Bible, but the New Testament is a great place to start.
- Read it several times. Look at the words used, search for the places on a map, see if there are related scriptures in the footnotes that may help you. Consider the timeframe of the writing (most bibles will have this information in an introductory paragraph at the beginning of the book.)
- Read it from different sources. If you have a NLT Bible, you may want to read the same passage from a different source to get another perspective. To see different versions, you can use the Bible Gateway website or your YouVersion app.
- Write it out. Writing scripture is a great way to learn it. By writing out the scripture verses, you slow it down. You are able to look at each word separately. You can use scripture writing as a way to memorize or meditate on the word.
- Ask questions. Sometimes you’ll read something you may not understand. This is totally normal! And this is where community comes in. You can ask questions from those around you who are also studying their Bible. Or, you can drop a question right here in the comments!
If you’ve been reading and studying your Bible for a while, you may be ready to dig a little deeper. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on ways to dig deeper into scripture.