We just launched our 2023 Bible reading challenge, and Tommy Keene has some good advice to help you along your way. He discusses “The Problem with Reading the Bible Verse by Verse,” and gives many practical suggestions for becoming better readers of the Bible.
Over the years we have trained ourselves to read the Bible in an unnatural way, so we’re going to have to break some bad habits. We are trained to read the Bible verse-by-verse, but in keeping with the “ordinary reading principle” we need to change our habits. We should ordinarily be reading the Bible paragraph-by-paragraph or, even better, book-by-book.
To re-train ourselves, we must discipline ourselves to read and get swept up in the grand literature of the Bible. We must be content not to read commentaries or study notes every time we have a question. We ought to devour the Scripture in gobbles rather than nibbles.
Keene discusses the benefits of reader’s editions and audio Bibles, all of which are encouraged in our reading challenge. Let Keene strengthen your conviction to read God’s word this year as though it was something God gave you to be read (because it was).
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