Try This Great Way to Read the Bible!

by: Melanie Moore

I recently read a great book that is changing how I read my Bible! The book is called How to Study Your Bible by John MacArthur, and I highly recommend it for great tips on making the most of your Bible study time!

First, in full admission, I am very task-oriented. If I am reading from a "One Year Bible", I will make sure that I complete the reading plan -- I have to check off those boxes! However, I noticed that if you asked me what I read just a few days later, I would have a really hard time remembering what I read. This started to concern me even as I made great progress on my daily Bible reading plan.

If I'm reading the Bible, but not taking time to really soak it in, apply it to my life, and remember what the Word says... am I missing the whole point?

When I picked up How to Study Your Bible, I was hoping to glean some great tips on understanding hard passages or color coding with highlighters to really dig into each passage. However, what I learned from the book went beyond that. The author outlined his plan for reading through both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

For the Old Testament, the author says: "I believe Christians should try to read through the Old Testament once a year. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament, and if you read about twenty minutes a day, you should be able to get through it in one year."

This seemed easy and straightforward enough for me so I decided to give it a try. However, his strategy for reading the New Testament is what really grabbed my attention! The author writes the he "think[s] our major thrust should be reading the New Testament... When you read the New Testament you must spend more time in it because it explains the Old Testament."

Isn't that a great perspective? He described how when he was in seminary, he would read through the book of 1 John every day for thirty days. Repetition, he says, is the key to learning!

This strategy resonates with me because I know repetition is key for me in remembering what I read.

For large books like John, he divides the book into smaller sections and reads through each section once for 30 days straight. 

I'm going to give this a try! What do you think? Do you like the idea of learning through repetition and focusing in on smaller passages for repeated reads? I'd love to hear your thoughts!