“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me…”
[Responds to that “urgent” email from the other day]
“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He…”
[Grabs a snack from the kitchen]
“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
[Starts thinking about what to do after reading the Bible]
It happens so frequently. We sit down to read the Bible and our minds are flooded by other thoughts and concerns. We interrupt ourselves because sometimes we simply don’t enjoy reading our Bible. And, when we don’t enjoy something, we don’t particularly want to do it.
I’ve fallen victim to this time and time again. In my particular case, I grew up as a preacher’s kid. But, my Bible came home from church with me and sat in the same spot until the next Sunday. I never read my Bible–probably because I figured I wouldn’t enjoy it. With that be
ing the case, I never developed a habit of reading the Bible. When I went off to college, I tried desperately (on several occasions) to get into it, but it was so much of a chore that I gave it up every time.
This is the Word of God we’re talking about! Shouldn’t we want to read it? Shouldn’t we desire to learn from it? Shouldn’t our minds be captured by it’s words?
How to Enjoy Reading Your Bible by Keith Ferrin is designed to help us WANT to read it!
Ferrin gives 10 tips on enjoying our Bible–things like: remembering why we’re reading our Bible (tip 1), having a strategy (tip 3), and reading alone (tip 7), but not always reading alone (tip 8).
If we can change our approach to Scripture and the way that we interact with Scripture, maybe we can enjoy reading it! For instance, Ferrin’s first tip suggests that approaching the Bible for relationship rather than knowledge will aid in our enjoyment. Additionally, his second tip suggests that our expectations vastly influence our experience–if we expect to enjoy our time of reading, we might actually enjoy it! And, of course, the remaining eight tips suggest more ways to enjoy reading the Bible.
I think How to Enjoy Reading Your Bible, is helpful for the large demographic of Christians who find it a chore to read the Bible. I’m one of them! And, I may just put these tips to use! Like I said, this is the Word of God we’re talking about. Shouldn’t our minds be captured by it’s words? Yes. And, this book is a step in the right direction.
A unique thing about How to Enjoy Reading Your Bible is the built in study guide. It is designed to give you the opportunity to work through these ten tips with a church small-group or a group of friends. So, give it a shot. If it’s a chore to read your Bible, pick up a copy of this book (less than $10 on Amazon), and work through it with some friends.
Pick up a copy of this book at Amazon or Bethany House and read up on how to enjoy reading your Bible!
You can access a PDF of the study guide HERE.
