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You’ve Got Time

January 7, 2026 By Peter Krol

Glenna Marshall makes a profound point in this piece: you’ve got enough time to read the Bible daily. Glenna required deep suffering to persuade her she couldn’t live life without God’s word. What will it take to persuade you?

Glenna timed her reading of the entire book of James, at a slow pace: 7.5 minutes. Then she went back to reread chapter one: 90 seconds.

Don’t start out with an hour of Bible reading at 5 a.m. unless this is a really, really feasible plan for you. Most of us won’t benefit from a plan like that. Not because it wouldn’t be good for us (it would be) but because if we start out too strong too quickly, we’re very likely to quit. We don’t want Bible reading for two weeks at the beginning of every year followed by months and months of spiritual malnourishment. We want Bible reading for life.

And then my favorite line of the piece:

If you have time to read this article, you have time to read your Bible.

Check it out!

10. Details of the OIA Method

This post serves as a table of contents to Peter’s series on how to study the Bible. It pretty much explains why this blog exists, so we’re glad it gets a lot of pageviews, even though it only reappeared on this list last year for the first time since 2020.

9. My Favorite Way to Read the New Testament

The “way” discussed in this post is not about finding time in your schedule, or deciding on a version of the Bible. The “way” is a reading plan, subdividing the New Testament into four tracks modeled after the four gospels. Read Matthew along with the Jewish epistles (James and Hebrews). Read Mark along with Peter’s epistles (since Peter was Mark’s chief source). Read Luke and Acts along with Paul’s epistles (since Luke was a companion of Paul’s). And read John along with John’s epistles and Revelation. This reading plan highlights what is distinct about each gospel, demonstrating the fulness of the kingdom Jesus brought to earth. This 2015 post held on to its #9 spot from last year.

8. Summary of the OIA Method

Just as the title says, this post summarizes the OIA method we aim to teach. It’s basically the reason this blog exists, so we’re glad it gets a lot of page views. This is down from #5 last year.

7. What Should We Make of the Massive Repetition of Tabernacle Details in Exodus?

Sometimes people fear studying or teaching through the book of Exodus because they fear they won’t know what to do with all the tabernacle details. And then what do you do when nearly every detail is repeated? What a marvelous opportunity to strengthen our observation skills! This 2018 post was the third most-viewed post written that year, but then faded into mild obscurity until regaining popularity two years ago and holding strong ever since.

6. Top 10 OT Books Quoted in NT

This post was #10 for the last few years before rising to #4 last year. Though it comes from a series that analyzes not only books but also chapters and verses, this list of most-quoted books always seems to be one of the most popular. A companion piece from within that research series also shows up next on the list.

5. Top 11 OT Verses Quoted in the NT

One of the surprises this year was the re-emergence of this post on this list. The top books has been on the list forever. And the list of books not quoted in the NT usually shows up on the list. But this post on the most quoted verses was among the ten most popular posts from the year of its publication (2013) until 2017 before disappearing. This year, however it’s back. But if you’re interested in an exhaustive list of OT passages directly quoted in the NT, then you’ll be interested in the whole series of posts I wrote on it, along with the compiled spreadsheet.

4. 10 Truths About the Holy Spirit from Romans 8

The first of two posts to debut on this top 10 list. Written in 2021, this post simply observes how much one of the Bible’s most famous chapters has to say about the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 uses the word “spirit” more times than any other chapter of the Bible. Ryan compiled a list of 10 truths about God’s Spirit. We trust it might encourage you as much as it encouraged him.

3. Context Matters: You Have Heard That it was Said…But I Say to You

This 2018 post was #9 on this list in 2020, but rose to #3 in 2021 and remained in that position until hitting #2 last year and now dropping to #3. This post examines the series of contrasts in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to determine, from the context, what Jesus was arguing against. Hint: It wasn’t the Old Testament Law.

2. Why Elihu is So Mysterious

The popularity of this 2015 post (republished in 2021) continues to surprise us. We really cannot explain why it has been so popular, but if you haven’t read it, you must really be missing out! Elihu is that mysterious fourth friend in the book of Job. If you even knew he existed, chances are you’ve skipped his speeches entirely. This post is Peter’s attempt to explain Elihu’s role in the drama of the play of Job, which is not the same as Job’s first three friends. This post was #3 in 2017, but since then has alternated between the #1 and #2 slots.

1. Overlooked Details of the Red Sea Crossing

The crossing of the Red Sea is one of the most memorable and cinematic events recorded in the Bible. This brief section of history has been captured in several films as well as in thousands of Sunday school lessons and coloring pages. Yet the literary account of it in Exodus 14 is a masterpiece of writing. In this post, Ryan covers four important details that generally don’t get much attention when the story is retold, and he then explains what difference those details make to the meaning of the story. This 2023 post makes its debut on the top 10 list this year, in a big way. For the second half of the year, this post began garnering about 30% more views per month than the previously most popular post (Why Elihu is So Mysterious).

Previous years’ lists: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013

10. Announcing the 2026 Bible Reading Challenge

This year’s Bible reading challenge is underway. Maybe this is your year to read the entire Bible in 90 days. You could win a premier book rebinding as a result. See the announcement for the official rules.

9. Wisdom in Disappointment

This year, I’ve continued revising and editing an old blog series on Proverbs 1-9. This post kicks off the study of Proverbs 3:1-12, which is one of those key texts where it’s crucial to understand how misleading is the conventional wisdom that “proverbs aren’t promises.”

8. Context Matters: The Lord’s Prayer

The rest of this list belongs almost exclusively to Ryan, who provided (and republished) much wonderful content this year. This first piece on the list considers that most famous of prayers in light of the context within which it was given. The Lord’s Prayer is an illustration of what it looks like to pray to a heavenly Father who knows what you need before you ask him. It is an example of how to pray in secret, how not to practice your righteousness before men, and how to seek reward from God. And it is a reminder that our relationship with God cannot be divorced from our relationship with other people.

And if you enjoy Ryan’s writing—as I sure do—you should also check out the Substack newsletter he just launched this year as well.

7. No Good Tree Bears Bad Fruit

You’ve probably heard this; it’s one of Jesus’ most famous metaphors. But can you explain what it means? If your answer is not “do you mean the Matthew 7 version or the Luke 6 version,” then you don’t really understand it! You’re in danger of reading one of those into the other text and missing the point.

6. Three Important Contexts for Bible Study

Your Bible study won’t have much teeth without consideration of the context. But which context? Because there are a few different kinds that all should be considered. This post tackles historical, literary, and personal. That doesn’t even exhaust the categories, but will certainly get you started in the right direction.

5. Reading the Bible for the First Time

In this masterful post, Ryan considers what you might want to say to a friend who wants to start reading the Bible for the first time. In our generation, such people are all around us. Most have no basic understanding of the facts or structure of the Bible. This brief post will help you get them started quickly.

4. Context Matters: Count the Cost

Before diving into this post, perhaps you should count the cost of shaking off dusty old metaphors. In other words, perhaps we shouldn’t just toss our Christianese phrases around so much that they lose their meaning. That way, when we come upon them in the Scripture, we can hear them as the author intended. Have you counted the cost of following Jesus? There is no discount, and the bill is extreme. But Jesus supplies what you lack and gives joy along the path.

3. What We Miss When We Skip the Prophets

Ryan enjoys motivating people to give attention to the obscure parts of the Bible. In this post, he explains how the New Testament makes constant use of the prophets to explain what Jesus has now done for his people. Skip them, and you might not really understand. For insight into other books you wouldn’t want to skip, see: Leviticus, Ezra, Nehemiah, Lamentations, and Numbers.

2. Just Do Nothing, and You’ll Ruin Everything

When people think that “proverbs aren’t promises,” they lose interest in the book of Proverbs. Why study a book that says stuff you can’t really bank on? But come to see the book rightly, and it’s treasures pay quickly and often. Such as a consideration of this rather obscure passage in Proverbs 1:20-21 (the prelude to the section of Prov 1:20-35). The point is simple: Wisdom is available. It is everywhere. We think we can’t change. We believe no one understands us. We assume we’re on our own. However, we’re surrounded by people with decent advice on important topics. We have no excuse for remaining immature.

1. Reading the Bible for the Ten Thousandth Time

Ryan wrote this post as a companion to #5 on this list. This one is not just for your “friend,” but for you who have grown familiar with the Bible. Familiar enough that the glow of it has long since faded. Ryan provides five great ideas to help you stave off your Bible weariness, and he reminds you that you never outgrown your need for the help of God’s Holy Spirit.

Previous years’ top tens: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

Identifying Longer Poems in the Body of Proverbs

December 17, 2025 By Peter Krol

Paul Overland has a fascinating piece on how to detect the poetic structure of Proverbs. I’ve written a full study of Proverbs 1-9, but Overland draws lessons from the structural markers in 1-9 and applies them to discern longer poems in chapters 10-29 as well.

For example, the sage uses an inclusio (repeated bookends) to mark the beginning and end of a poem in Proverbs 4:20-27. The NIV captures the repetition of “turn your ear” (Prov 4:20) and “do not turn” (Prov 4:27). In a similar way, the inclusio of “comes only to poverty” may mark the beginning and end of a larger unit in Prov 21:5-22:16.

Overland provides many specific tools to help you recognize boundary markers of poetic units within the book. And he offers the following benefits to engaging in this work:

Poems reveal richer meaning to their single sayings
We discover messages emerging from entire poems or lectures
Adjacent poems cluster together to deliver a cumulative lesson
A book-wide curriculum of wisdom training comes into view

The book of Proverbs is a tremendous gift from God to help us know him and grow up into maturity in our thinking, our piety, and our social progress. In today’s societies, we can easily witness the fruit of neglecting such wisdom from God. And Overland’s article will provide much stimulating help with considering just how this book can train us further in God’s wisdom.

Check it out!

The Staying Power of Wisdom

December 10, 2025 By Peter Krol

I’m so grateful for William Osborne’s recent piece “Wisdom Rarely Makes You Famous.” In it, he explains the end of Ecclesiastes 9 and beginning of Ecclesiastes 10 to show why wisdom is far superior a thing to pursue than the acceptance of any inner circle in society.

The temptation to stray from God’s word continues through every generation. Wisdom is not crowd-sourcing. Wisdom is not trying to guess what the next big thing will be before everyone else. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and building our lives upon his words. Wisdom believes that God’s instructions are good and life-giving, even though wisdom rarely gets a trophy.

Check it out!

3 Reasons to Teach Your Kids the Bible

December 3, 2025 By Peter Krol

Ken Mbugua offers 3 reasons to teach your kids the Bible:

It is your God-given, joyful privilege.
God still speaks through His Word.
The Bible is a light.

If we don’t teach them the Bible, what will they find instead to guide them through life? How will they hear from God? How will they know him? For those reasons, we’ve sought to provide help with teaching not only the content of the Bible but also the skills for children to read and understand it themselves.

As Mbugua declares, “The call to teach our children about God is not a modern idea but a timeless command rooted in Scripture.”

Check it out!

Might Your Teaching be Preventing People from Learning?

November 26, 2025 By Peter Krol

Bryan Elliff has a wonderful and provocative piece called “Less Lecture More Learning: Ideas for a Better Sunday School Hour.” In that article, he describes situations where church members faithfully attend Sunday school classes for decades but still don’t know how to read or study their Bibles.

One of the biggest contributors to the problem is lecture-style teaching. That may surprise you, but I think it’s true. Let me paint the picture. One willing and perhaps gifted person spends a lot of time at home preparing during the week. On Sunday, he marches to the front of the classroom to speak at the group for an hour. Maybe a few minutes are given for discussion at the end and the listeners file out to go to the worship meeting where they will listen to a speaker again.

The problem with this is that it doesn’t teach the people how to read the Bible. It just serves up a finished product that they think about for a few minutes. Most likely, unless the teacher is an exceptionally good speaker, they’ll forget it rather quickly. It’s kind of like inviting someone over for a meal once a week and expecting him to learn how to cook.

In other words, there’s too much teaching and not enough learning.

Elliff goes on to suggest some practical ways you can turn your lectures into an academy for vibrant learning. His suggestions are quite close to my model for teaching Bible study in church.

Check it out!

How to Ask Excellent Discussion Questions

November 19, 2025 By Peter Krol

The Logos blog recently republished a classic piece by my most excellent colleague Ryan Higginbottom about “How to Ask Excellent Bible Study Discussion Questions.” This article summarizes a lot of important work about launching questions, observation questions, interpretive questions, and application questions.

Check it out!

Your Buying Guide for Bible Study Resources: Updated for 2025

November 14, 2025 By Peter Krol

If you’re in the market for gifts to encourage Bible study, here are our top recommendations. We’ve reviewed most of these products on this site at many times and in many ways, but here they are in one place for you.

Bibles

You can’t beat a good Bible. Our top recommendation is to get yourself or someone you love one of the best editions of the Bible to hit the western world: the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set.

Our first review. Second review.

Get it at Amazon

And while we use the ESV translation more than any other, we must mention that the 4-volume NIV Sola Scriptura Bible Project has perhaps the most innovative layout and presentation of the Scriptures, which make it a sheer delight to read.

If 6 volumes seem too much to you, the single volume ESV Reader’s Bible is still well worth picking up.

Our review

Cloth over board: Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Reader’s Bibles are arriving with increasing frequency in other translations as well. See our reviews of the CSB, NIV one-volume, NIV 4-volume, and ESV Gospels. They’re even producing some editions for kids.

And for something completely different, consider getting an entire book of the New Testament on a single page spread, with the ESV Panorama New Testament.

Chronological Bible

The ESV Chronological Bible is worth your attention. It’s not what you want for deep study, but it’s wonderful for extended reading or reference. Here is our review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Study Bibles

There are so many options. See our buying guide for recommendations about which ones succeed at promoting OIA Bible study.

Markup Bibles

For something you can write in with greater ease, see our recommendations. Also consider large print and journaling Bibles. Or Scripture journals. If you prefer more space between lines of text, see the Inductive Version of the Journaling New Testament.

Journibles

If you or a loved one like the idea of copying out the Scriptures by hand, you might want to consider a Journible.

Audio Bibles

The Dwell app for mobile devices is a remarkable tool designed completely for listening to the Bible. NIV Live is a terrific dramatized audio Bible.

Bible Study

For a snapshot of the OIA process, see this blog post.

For a little more explanation of the principles, see our free booklet.

To go even further, with lots of illustrations, examples to follow, and exercises to practice, see One-to-One Bible Reading or Peter’s book Knowable Word (now revised and expanded).

If you’re familiar with the OIA model, and you’d like to hone your skills to perfection, consider getting Methodical Bible Study by Robert Traina. This book is dry and doesn’t tell many stories. But it delves the depths of the model like nothing else.

Leading

If you’d like to grow as a Bible study leader see Peter’s book Sowable Word or Colin Marshall’s terrific book Growth Groups.

Commentaries

See our page with recommended commentaries that promote OIA Bible study skills. We don’t have recommendations for every Bible book yet, but we update this page as we come across helpful volumes.

Beginners

Great places for beginners to start in gaining familiarity with the Bible’s layout and message are The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible (see Peter’s review), The Visual Theology Guide to the Bible (see Ryan’s review), and The Visual Word (see Ryan’s review).

Software

Peter still happily recommends Logos Bible Software, as it has drastically improved the speed and quality of his Bible study. See his reviews of Logos 7, Logos 8, and Logos 9 for details. Logos is now more affordable than ever through subscriptions (see Peter’s review of this latest development). Here is a link for a 30-day trial.

While Logos is remarkable with its reference libraries and powerful features, it’s not for everyone. If you are more interested in slimmer, free software, you may want to check out E-Sword or STEP Bible.

Children’s Resources

The best thing you and your church can do for your children is to buy them a Bible and teach them to use it. In my household, that means we buy ESV pew Bibles (the cheapest we can find) almost by the case. These things will get beat up and need to be replaced often, so there’s no use in getting the authentic-porpoise-leather-imported-from-Mars-heirloom-editions just yet.

When children are first learning to read, it may be helpful to give them the NIrV. This builds their confidence in reading the very words of God in their own language. Remember, the story Bibles are good, but God’s undiluted word is even better.

And before dipping into the supplemental resources below, perhaps you’d consider printing out a few simple devotional pages for your kids, so they can explore the Scriptures for themselves before hearing what others have to say about the Scriptures.

Ages 0-2

The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Read Aloud Bible Stories – Brief Bible stories that draw in young children, letting the children know these are their stories. Get it at Amazon.

Ages 3-5

The Gospel Story Bible – Retellings of 156 Bible stories, synchronized with the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum, and devotionals Long Story Short and Old Story New. The best part of these stories are that much use is made in the retelling of the actual text of Scripture. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

God’s BIG Promises Bible Storybook – Traces 5 major promises through the Bible from beginning to end. Great to read aloud to preschoolers, or to have young elementary students read themselves. See our review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

The Jesus Storybook Bible – Gripping gospel focus, though it sometimes seems to suggest that Bible stories are not meant to serve as examples (contrast with 1 Cor 10:6, 11, etc.). Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Ages 5-7

Mark’s Marvellous Book – I still hope this becomes more of a trend: A children’s story Bible that follows the shape and themes of a book of the Bible (rather than cherry-picking certain stories, ignoring the fact that they were written to an audience in a context). See my review. Get it at Amazon.

God’s Daring Dozen – Similar to Mark’s Marvellous Book, these short volumes each follow the shape and theme of a book of the Bible. These sets work through the twelve minor prophets, from Hosea to Malachi. And they are simply extraordinary. See my review. Get box 1 (Amazon | Westminster), box 2 (Amazon | Westminster), or box 3 (Amazon | Westminster).

The Big Picture Story Bible – A marvelous overview of the Bible’s rich storyline: The people of God under the rule of God in the place God gives. Read this to your kids at ages 0-2; then have them read it to themselves at ages 5-7. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Ages 8-14

The Radical Book for Kids – This is the kind of gift you get for your kids, but it’s also, sort of, partly, perhaps, for you. You know, like Legos, football tickets, or family room surround sound systems. It’s an engaging and delightful handbook of the Christian faith. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

The Really Radical Book for Kids – Just as wonderfully radical as the first one, only really so. See my review. Get it at Amazon | Westminster. Or get a deal on both Radical books at Westminster.

Or perhaps you’d like to consider getting them their own beginner reader’s Bible.

Family Devotions

I highly recommend the series of devotionals by Marty Machowski. These volumes don’t merely communicate Christian truth, as important as that is; they train children to study the Bible and find that truth for themselves. In addition, the “daily” family devotions take only 5 days/week, and they truly take only 10 minutes per day. The payoff is high, but the price of entry is low. This makes it more likely you’ll be able to stay consistent with them. Every volume in this series has the same high quality; each also has the same basic structure for each day’s devotion. See my review.

Long Story Short – 78 weeks in the Old Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Old Story New – 78 weeks in the New Testament. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Prepare Him Room – 4 weeks in Advent season. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Wise Up – 12 weeks in Proverbs. Get it at Amazon | Westminster
Listen Up – 13 weeks in the parables of Jesus. Get it at Amazon | Westminster

Happy gift shopping!

Disclaimer: Links in this post to Amazon, Westminster, and Logos are affiliate links, which means this blog receives a small commission when you click those links. Doing this helps us to cover our costs, enabling us to continue recommending decent resources. Thank you.