I know it’s hard to admit because admitting it would sound like we just don’t love God, we’re not concerned about our souls, or any other number of terrible things. But if we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that either at some point in the past, or even now every so often we struggle with reading our Bibles. We don’t question the importance of reading our Bibles. We don’t question how valuable it is to read our Bibles. We don’t pretend that our lives are fuller because we don’t read our Bibles. We just struggle with it. Sometimes it’s hard to take the words on paper and translate them into meaningful direction in life. It’s not that we don’t want to, we just don’t know how.
I don’t find it productive with any topic to emphasize the important of doing something without offering some practical suggestions for how to do it. So I want to offer just a few suggestions for how we can read the Bible with greater purpose.
First, we need to read the Bible regularly. The old saying pertaining to productivity is that we should be concerned with quality instead of quantity. That’s true when it comes to Bible study, in a sense. But in large part the quality of our Bible study is dependent on how frequently we do it. I cannot sit down and read my Bible once every month or two and expect it to matter to me. We do what matters to us. So if we want Bible study to matter we have to do it. And the more we do it the easier it will become. How regularly should we read our Bibles? The goal should be every day. It may be difficult to start that type of schedule right off the bat, but whatever method we can we should use to get to that point. Outside of regularity we will never find purpose in our Bible study.
Next, we need to read the Bible systematically. What does that mean? Simply to just read the Bible using some form of system. But what system is the best? Many people could argue the benefits of different Bible reading plans whether they be the whole Bible through once a year, the Old Testament through each year with the New Testament more frequently, the repetitive reading of certain books, etc. What I would say is that you should use whatever system works best for you. Using a system, some plan for your reading and study, shows commitment, keeps you accountable, and works towards a goal. All of these are invaluable in maintaining purpose in your Bible study.
Third, we need to read the Bible honestly. Let’s be honest. We can be kind of opinionated at times. We tend to make our minds up about certain things, whether of consequence or not, and then stubbornly stick to that opinion even when we are given evidence to the contrary. That is particularly true when it comes to spiritual matters. We grow up being taught certain things, we develop lifestyles according to certain beliefs, or we are influenced by the viewpoints of those to whom we are close; and that baggage sometimes shapes the way that we read the Bible. In other words, when we read the Bible we manipulate what the Bible says to fit what we believe. That is a backwards way of reading the Bible. Instead wouldn’t it make sense to manipulate what we believe to what the Bible says? But if that is going to happen we’ve got to read the Bible honestly.
Fourth, we need to read the Bible personally. The Bible was intended to be a book that impacts mankind, but it was also intended to be a book with deeply personal application (2 Timothy 3:17). So when we read the Bible it is good in a sense to look at it as a message to humanity in the collective. That helps us to capture the magnitude of the gospel’s purpose. But if we only read it through the lens of collective humanity it can be easy to lose ourselves in its message. We need to balance that by reading it as a message to each of us individually. The Bible is a book God wrote to me to shape my life – and the same goes for you. But unless we read it personally we will never see the purpose the Bible is supposed to have in our lives.
I have no doubt there is much more that could be said. Perhaps you have some advice that you can add to such a conversation. But the conversation has got to start with a desire. If there is no desire to read the Bible with greater purpose we’ll never take the step to do it. The Bible has purpose, more purpose than we could imagine. But if we are going to tap into that purpose we’ve got to read it with greater purpose.
-Andy