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Above All Earthly Textbooks

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It’s mid-August, which means it’s textbook season. This is bliss for some students and drudgery for others, but there’s no way around it. A student’s world revolves around books.

And in the stress of student life, it’s easy to obsess about textbooks and forget the Bible, the most important book on the shelf.

I understand the pressures. They are real and they can be heavy.

But today, I plead with you: Hold fast to the Bible!

A Student’s Temptation

Life comes at students quickly. The next paper, exam, or project deadline is always crouching at the door.

It’s easy to get tunnel vision. You want your work to be excellent, so that upcoming grade becomes your focus. Everything else fades into the background.

Before you know it, you’re a wreck. You’re not getting enough sleep, haven’t exercised in days, and can’t remember what a vegetable looks like.

When you feel pressed for time, your devotional life is often the first thing to go. It feels like a luxury, something “extra” you can pick up again when the calendar clears.

But time with God is not a luxury! Your Father knows what’s best for you, and he wants you to spend time with him.

Why You Must Hold Fast

Over the course of a school year, you’ll give hundreds of hours of attention to your courses. You’ll learn history and philosophy, chemistry and civics, music and mathematics.

But you must not neglect the Bible.

Don’t misunderstand. The Bible is not a history or science textbook. Your academic success does not depend on your attention to the Bible.

No—your need for God’s word is far deeper than academics!

The Bible stands above all textbooks. In its importance and authority, nothing exceeds the Bible. As you read and study the Bible, you get to know the God who created all music! You grow closer to the One who sustains the universe and makes the study of chemistry possible!

Christian students shouldn’t read the Bible because it will change their grades. They should read the Bible because it will change them.

Pride will give way to humility. Arrogance will yield to love. Foolishness will be replaced with wisdom. And as you are controlled by the grace of Jesus, he will make you a student who is no longer controlled by grades.

How to Hold Fast

What does it look like to give priority to the Bible? Here are three ideas.

  • Commit yourself to Bible intake. Whether reading, studying, meditating on, or listening to the Bible, make God’s word a regular part of your diet.
  • Commit yourself to a Bible-believing local church. Part of God’s design is for us to be in a community of worshipers. If you’re in middle school or high school, this probably means going to church with your parents. But for those in college, make sure you find a good church in your area. College campus ministries can be wonderful, but the best ministries aim to assist—not replace—the church.
  • Commit yourself to a small group. In addition to a vibrant, Bible-believing church community, seek out a close group of friends with whom you can discuss life and the things of God. Study the Bible together, talk about your temptations and doubts, encourage each another in the faith. This small group might be your family, friends from youth group, or a small group Bible study through your church. The best small groups help us apply the Bible thoroughly and joyfully.

More Than Information

The Bible is not just information. It’s the very food by which we live (Matthew 4:4).

When the table is set and the food is served, don’t turn away. Feast. Draw near to God in his word, and he will draw near to you. Then he will equip you to pick up your other textbooks to his glory.

The Summer of the Bible

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Paolo Rosa (2015), public domain

Today marks the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. The next three months promise sunshine and thunderstorms, lightning bugs and mosquitoes, picnics and sunburn. Summer is here, whether you’ve gathered your frisbees and watermelon or not.

Summer has a rhythm of its own. The children are out of school, we’re anxious to travel, and the longer hours of daylight call us outside for yard work and play.

Though it seems we should have more time in the summer for spiritual pursuits, for many the opposite is true. We float into the fall like a dry leaf, wondering why we feel so distant from the Lord.

Let’s make this summer different. Let’s fill this summer with the Bible.

Seven Reasons to Read the Bible

As I urge you to pick up your Bible this summer, I realize some will consider this a stuffy burden. But if you think the Bible is boring, you’ve got the wrong book.

The Bible is the word of God! It is our light in the dark, it is our way back to our Father, it is the food we need for life. There are millions of reasons to read and study the Bible. Consider these seven.

  1. We read the Bible to know Christ.
  2. We study the Bible because knowing Jesus is eternal life.
  3. The Bible gives us wisdom (Proverbs 1:1–7).
  4. The Bible makes us fruitful (Psalm 1:1–3).
  5. The Bible warns us about sin and folly (Psalm 19:11).
  6. The Bible gives us hope (Romans 15:4).
  7. The Bible gives us the truth, and there is freedom in knowing the truth (John 8:31–32).

Five Suggestions for a Bible-filled Summer

There’s no need to wait until January 1 to make a life change. If you’ve been neglecting God’s word or if you’d just like to make the most of the summer, here are five ways to get started.

Read and study the Bible yourself. You’ll never regret focusing on the Bible. If you’ve never studied the Bible before, don’t be intimidated! We’ve got you covered. If you need the refreshment of simply reading the Bible, three months is plenty of time to read the whole thing. Really!

Join a Bible study group. A small group study can be just the thing to get you out of the house and into God’s word. Ask around at church to see what’s available this summer, and if you don’t find anything that works, start your own group!

Read the Bible with a friend or spouse. Groups can be great, but the simple practice of reading the Bible with one other person is powerful too. This really is as easy as it sounds: find a friend, find a time, and dive into the Bible together.

Read the Bible with your family. Pick a book in the Bible and start reading out loud. Once you finish, start again with a different book. Keep going. A family reading time will be fruitful for everyone (especially if the children ask questions).

Point your children to the Bible. School-age children invariably have more free time in the summer, and they can’t spend the whole time blowing bubbles. Whether your children can read or not, the summer is a great time to help them develop a daily devotional habit. Follow up and show them how the whole Bible fits together.

Three months of summer stretch out before us; let’s use them to immerse ourselves in the Bible!

The Obvious Diagnosis (A Parable)

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Shanice Garcia (2015), public domain

The light went on for Tyler one day in his mid-twenties. He stepped on the scale and was shocked.

Tyler had always been active, playing sports as a kid and intramurals in college. But now he had a desk job. He tried to run or work out a few times a week, but he often didn’t have the energy.

He never considered himself a glutton, but he ate whatever he wanted in college. He thought nothing of cereal for dinner or a second burger at lunch. Days could pass before he ate a green vegetable.

But the slower pace of life and the gradual accumulation of the years had the effect so many have felt. Tyler was 15 pounds heavier than when he graduated college, and he finally had enough.

Tyler plunged into the world of health and nutrition. He read dozens of books from his library. He investigated the latest fad diets and held them up to the closest scrutiny. Early on, he saw the change he had to make: he needed to eat better.

More vegetables. Fewer sweets. Better choices at the grocery store.

Tyler noticed a difference right away. He slept better. He had tremendous energy. He felt sharper and more focused at work. His weight was down, but that was almost irrelevant—every aspect of his physical and mental well-being was soaring to heights he’d never known.

He soon met others in his city who shared his new passion. As a result of this new friend network, Tyler’s social life exploded. There was the softball team, the weekend triathlon training, and the shared cooking nights. Tyler and one of the women in his group started dating. His calendar was bursting.

Looking back, Tyler would see this social uptick as the turning point.

Eating healthy food takes time. Imperceptibly, Tyler’s food preparation time got squeezed. It started with walking to pick up a sandwich at lunch instead of packing his own. As he stayed out later at night he found less time for breakfast in his apartment, so he’d hit the bagel shop. Pretty soon he was eating carry-out food as often as he was making dinner from scratch.

The transformation continued for several months until Tyler caught a cold. When he couldn’t shake it after two weeks, he went to his doctor.

This doctor had been impressed with Tyler’s health in recent years, so he was surprised to see the vital signs when he walked into the room. Tyler’s weight, pulse rate, and blood pressure were all up, much higher than at his most recent annual physical.

The doctor asked questions about Tyler’s sickness and current lifestyle. He gently probed at Tyler’s exercise and diet, and Tyler confessed to feeling lethargic even before catching this cold.

The doctor finished writing in the chart and leaned back in his chair with a smile. “Tyler, I’ve seen dozens of people with this cold in recent weeks. I’m not worried about it for you. You’ll bounce back within the next two or three days.”

“That’s great,” Tyler said.

“But a healthy young man shouldn’t get knocked so low by a simple cold,” the doctor said. “There’s something else going on.”

Tyler looked worried. “What is it?”

The doctor couldn’t suppress a small laugh. “After the health journey I’ve seen you take over the last several years, I didn’t think I’d say this. But Tyler, you’re not eating well.”

“What?”

“Well, you have healthy friends. You read a lot about nutrition and even hang out in healthy places. Your influences haven’t changed.”

“OK…”

“But you haven’t noticed the slide. You might not talk or think any differently, but your diet right now is miles away from what it was a year ago. In order to be healthy, you actually have to put the healthy food in your body.”

And that’s when the light went on for Tyler a second time.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

How to Teach Any Bible Passage

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Classroom

anonymous (2017), public domain

Have you been asked to teach the Bible? Maybe you’d like to prepare something for your Sunday school class, small group, or youth group. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the task, you’ve come to the right place.

Two Elements of Preparation

There are two elements to any good communication of the Bible: getting it right, and getting it across.

First, study the Bible and understand what it says and what that means. Then, determine the best way to help your people understand the passage. All of the advice that follows falls into one of these two categories.

A Preparation Guide

Here are eleven steps toward preparing a lesson on the Bible.

  1. Pray — You can’t do anything apart from God. Pray for your own study and pray for God’s work through you in the class.
  2. Read the Bible passage as many times as you can. Depending on the length, aim for at least ten.
  3. Study the passage. At this blog we teach the Observation, Interpretation, Application (OIA) Bible study method. Your goal should be to find the main point (or sometimes, main points) of the passage. Expect to spend several hours on this part of the process. (You may find these worksheets helpful.)
  4. Try not to use commentaries or notes in your study Bible until after you’ve studied the passage on your own.
  5. Think through this question: how does this passage (and especially its main point) connect to Jesus and the gospel?
  6. Prayerfully apply the passage (especially the main point) to yourself. Application can happen in the realms of head, heart, and hands. The more God works on you personally through this passage, the greater impact your teaching will have.
  7. Produce an outline of the passage. This needn’t be too detailed, but try to describe how the sections of your passage fit together.
  8. Your first goal in teaching is to lead the class to the main point of the passage. Think about how you arrived at the main point. What supporting truths helped you get there?
  9. To help the class grasp these supporting truths, determine what questions (both observation and interpretation) you will ask to lead the discussion. (The size of your group will determine how much interaction you can have, but you should push for as much as possible.) Because it is easy to forget your questions in the moment, write them down ahead of time. This is one of the hardest and most important parts of teaching—asking good questions.
  10. Think about application for the class. What questions will help the class consider personal application? Are there corporate applications the class should consider? What are some barriers to these personal or corporate applications?
  11. Finally, consider how you will begin the class. To get the class primed for the lesson, you might target an application or a theme or even something related to the main point. Will you start the class with a launching question? Will you start the class some other way?

A Worksheet

If you’d like a resource to use when planning to teach the Bible, check out this worksheet. Please use it if you find it helpful.

Helpful Meetings

Here’s one last piece of advice. Talk about your lesson both before and after the class.

I’ve insisted on these conversations as I train adult Sunday school teachers in my local church. These meetings have made a huge difference, both in the quality of the class and the development of the teachers.

Find a friend and chat a few days before the class. Talk about the main point and what questions you plan to ask. Give your friend permission to ask questions and tell you if your setup makes sense.

Ask your friend to sit in on the class and then pass along feedback afterward. Make sure your relationship (and their personality) allows for honesty in this conversation. Helpful feedback will involve both the good and the bad from your lesson.

What An Opportunity!

Teaching the Bible is a serious task and privilege. Don’t try to be fancy. Explain your thinking, ask good questions, and help your people see that studying the Bible is something anyone can do.

Lessons From This Year’s Speed-Read

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On March 9, I completed my 7th annual speed-read of the Bible. If you’d like to know why I do an annual speed read, see my Bible reading plan for readers. This year, I used the ESV Reader’s Bible, 6 Volume Set. I chose not to supplement with an audio Bible, so I could get my eyes on every page of the new 6-volume set. Next week I’ll offer my final impressions of the 6-volume set and its presentation, but this week I’ll share my biggest takeaways from the stupendous subject matter.

In canonical order, here’s how the Lord impressed me through his word over the last 10 weeks:

  • Partly under the influence of having just read Hays’s delightful The Temple and the Tabernacle, I was better able to see the differences between Kings’ and Chronicles’ treatment of Solomon building the temple. The narrative of Kings clearly has a hint of something sinister, particularly in contrast to Moses’ erection of the tabernacle. Solomon receives no direct mandate from the Lord. He does not build things according to a heavenly pattern. There is no repetition of instructions and construction (as in Exodus 25-31 and Exodus 35-40). In the narrative of Kings, Solomon’s construction of the temple has more than a hint of the beginning of Solomon’s fall. However, the narrative of Chronicles clearly portrays the temple construction under direct and explicit divine blessing. In the flow of that story, Solomon’s building of the temple is the beginning of Israel’s greatness, which the exiles attempt to recover. These different perspectives on the same event are very interesting indeed.
  • I have never been a big fan of the Psalms. I prefer narrative and wisdom literature. But each year, my love for the Psalms deepens. The 6-Volume Set encouraged me to read Psalms in 5 sittings, as 5 “books.” Each book held together really well, beginning and ending on a similar note, and grouping psalms in some intuitive ways. As I get more familiar with the book, I’m enjoying it much more.
  • When reading Isaiah and Jeremiah, I usually feel like I’m swimming in molasses. It’s slow going, I’m easily stuck, and whatever I try to grab slips through my fingers. Part of the problem is that I’ve never had opportunity to study these books at length. This year, I began to see glimmers of structure in these books, and that gave me just the footholds I needed to feel a sense of progress and development throughout.
  • When I read the New Testament, I usually follow my favorite four-track reading plan, with each track beginning with a gospel and ending with the related epistles. This year, I went straight through canonically, except that I flipped Luke and John in order to read Luke-Acts together. What impressed me was, after reading all 4 gospels in a row, the book of Acts felt glorious. Seeing the apostles perform the works of Jesus, and do even greater things (taking the gospel out to all nations) thrilled me like never before.
  • After reading all of Paul’s epistles in a row, Hebrews shone afresh. This “word of exhortation” (Heb 13:22) is likely a transcribed sermon, and as I read, I could almost hear an apostle preaching it. Reading Hebrews in one sitting is something that must be done if we are to get the big idea. And imagine what might happen in our churches if this inspired sample sermon shaped our preaching today.

If you joined this year’s reading challenge—and even if you haven’t completed the Bible—I’d love to hear what struck you as you read.

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Defining and Refining the Main Point

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This is a guest post by Brian Stenson and Lincoln Fitch, who serve with DiscipleMakers in eastern Pennsylvania. They share a love for good coffee, good books, and good Bible study.  Listen to their talk on Bible study from the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference here.

After a long, hard-fought battle, you have captured the main point of your passage. You have made many observations. You’ve asked and answered key interpretive questions. You’ve resisted the five misconceptions. Now you sit atop the glorious truth you’ve discovered, basking in the glory of victory.

In this grand moment, you may be tempted toward overconfidence. We’ve been there. We’ve felt like strutting across the local coffee shop like decorated Olympians, hands punching the air, spectators lavishing accolade upon accolade. This part of your Bible study is dangerous because, in your overconfidence, you might fail to take an honest, humble look at your work.

So before taking your victory lap, humbly filter your proposed main point through a defining and refining process, especially if you plan to teach or preach this passage. This will ensure you have an accurate main point, ready to communicate with clarity and potency.

Five Misconceptions About Finding the Main Point

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This is a guest post by Brian Stenson and Lincoln Fitch, who serve with DiscipleMakers in eastern Pennsylvania. They share a love for good coffee, good books, and good Bible study.  Listen to their talk on Bible study from the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference here.

Finding the main point tends to be one of the most difficult skills to master when learning to study the Bible, in part because of believing one or more of the following five misconceptions.

1. Your Bible study is solely dependent on the quality of your main point

Perhaps you think your Bible study is not worthwhile without a solid main point. And certainly, understanding the main point of a passage is crucial to understanding God’s word.

Yet God’s words are living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. The words that come from his mouth will not return to him empty.

This means that the God-breathed words in this book are not dependent on us. We definitely want to be careful and handle them faithfully, but the power in them is not from us but from God. This fact frees us from needing to have perfect main points.

If you’re tempted to cancel your Bible study because you’re not sure you’ve understood the main point, don’t! Trust in the power of God’s words.

2. The main point is a summary of the passage

A summary of the passage simply retells the facts. In contrast, the main point interprets what those facts mean.

For example, a summary of John 1:1-18 might be “Jesus is the Word, the life, the light, and the glory of God made flesh.” This statement communicates (summarizes) what the passage says. But to get the main point, we must ask what these things mean, and we’ll come up with something like, “God is making himself known through Jesus.”

Summaries of the passage can lead you to the main point. But don’t settle for a summary. Dig further to understand what the passage teaches about God.The Main point must answer the question: Why did the author write this?

3. Finding the main point is more of a science than an art

Finding the main point is not an exact science. There’s no formula that guarantees you a main point if you follow certain steps or ask certain questions.

Finding the main point is more of an art, where you use different tools to discover the author’s intentions. You put yourself in the author’s shoes.

And when we call Bible study an art, we’re speaking less of the art of creation and creativity, and more of the art of fine arts criticism. Or more specifically, the art of literary analysis. We’re not creating meaning, but simply uncovering the meaning already present in the text.

So don’t expect any series of steps to drop the main point into your lap. Rather, acquire the careful discernment required to understand the author’s intentions.

4. The main point is a precise phrase you’re looking to find

Don’t think of it as a treasure hunt for the right answer, nor as an encryption key to break a code.

James St. John (2015), Creative Commons

Think of it like a gem—one beautiful idea with many facets. You can come at the main point from different angles. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get the wording exactly right. There is no secret answer key of main points for the Bible.

And note: While there usually is no single, “right” main point for a passage, there can certainly be many wrong answers. For example, possible main point statements for John 1:1-18 could be:

  • God is making himself known through Jesus.
  • Jesus reveals God to the world.
  • Jesus is the God who created the world and now brings life to it.

But it would be incorrect to say the main point of John 1:1-18 is that “Jesus is the first created being” (poor observation) or that “Jesus was rejected by those who should have received him” (focusing on a sub-point of the passage’s argument).

5. Wise teachers should always agree about a passage’s main point

Because finding the main point is more art than science, and because the main point can have many facets from which to view it, we should expect some disagreement or differences in stating the main points. Commentators can state the main point differently, and yet still have a good understanding of the passage. Pastors can preach different sermons from the same passage and yet still be faithfully representing the passage.

So if you and your Bible study co-leader come up with similar main points, but you phrase them differently, don’t be surprised! As long as you’re looking at the same gem, it’s OK if you don’t frame the main point the same way.

Conclusion

The main point is not an observational summary but an interpretive statement. We’re looking in the text, not for a specific phrase, but for the author’s intention, which, like the facets of a gem, can be looked at from multiple directions.

Picture a miner digging down 20 feet and hitting copper. Though he isn’t thrilled, he figures it’s the best he can do. So he packs up and leaves, ignorant of the gold just a few feet further down. We’re like this when we study the Bible but don’t quite get to the author’s main point. And how much more valuable is the Lord’s word than gold?

So don’t give up! Keep digging to understand God’s word.

A Crucial Question to Help You Find the Main Point of a Bible Passage

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This is a guest post by Brian Stenson and Lincoln Fitch, who serve with DiscipleMakers in eastern Pennsylvania. They share a love for good coffee, good books, and good Bible study.  Listen to their talk on Bible study from the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference here.

Why the Main Point Matters

Can you imagine pouring yourself into your study of a passage, only to discover you were missing the main idea?

I (Lincoln) had that experience a few months ago. After reviewing my notes for an upcoming sermon, my ministry supervisor asks me straight out: “What would you say is the main point of the passage?” And upon hearing my answer, he holds nothing back. “I don’t think that is the main point of the passage.” Though it is hard to hear this, I know he is right. I can’t even justify my proposed main point to myself. And now I feel like a total failure. Will I ever be able to understand or teach the Bible accurately?

While finding a text’s main point is not easy, it is crucial. Consider what happens if we teach the Scripture without grasping the main ideas. At the very least, the message (even if it has some real truth) doesn’t arise clearly from the page to stick in your listener’s hearts. At the worst, you could be working at cross-purposes with what God actually wants to communicate through the passage. But finding the main point empowers you to access the boundless power of God’s transformative word. Whether you lead Bible studies, teach and preach, or study the Bible on your own, finding the main point of a passage is foundational to understanding and communicating who God is.

A Crucial Question

If you’re familiar with OIA Bible study, you’ve probably experienced the challenge of finding the main point. After observing, you ask questions, especially “why” questions. You consider the context. You try to figure out the author’s intentions. But often, you feel stumped.

We find one particular question to be crucial when it’s time to identify the passage’s main point:

Why did the author write the passage this way?

ed_needs_a_bicycle (2012), Creative Commons

It’s not a flashy or revolutionary question, but it usually gets the job done. And it does so by causing us to examine a few more specific questions.

  • What gives the passage its shape?
  • What does the author emphasize?
  • How did the author get from beginning to end?
  • How does the structure of the larger section, and the book as a whole, help us see what the author is trying to get across in this passage?

For example, notice how the shape of John 6:60-71 reveals much about the author’s main point:

  • This relatively short passage concludes a long discourse between the Jews and Jesus. These final verses show the responses to Jesus’ teaching.
  • The passage begins with many disciples following Jesus but ends with few. John 6:66 says, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” This statement serves as a turning point in the narrative.
  • This turning point raises the following questions: 1) “Why did so many people turn away?” and 2) “What was the difference between those who turned away and those who continued to follow Jesus?”
  • The disciples who turned away gave a reason: “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). Jesus also knew they were grumbling and asked if they took offense at his words (John 6:61).
  • After many turned away, Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks if they want to go away as well (John 6:66). Peter explains their reason for staying: “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69-70).

Do you see how both groups of disciples comment on Jesus’ words? The first group turns away because they are challenged and offended by Jesus’ words. The second group keeps following because they hear Jesus’ words and receive them, knowing them to be the words of eternal life. This text reveals a lot about people by their response to Jesus’ words, and by the inherent contrast in the structure.

Here’s where we think John is going: People’s responses to Jesus’ words demonstrate whether they’ll follow him or fall away. There is our main point.

You could state the main point in many ways, but the passage clearly highlights both Jesus’ words and what we do with them. May the Lord help us to hear and love the words of eternal life found in the Scriptures!

Conclusion

Do you see why structure matters? The passage has a significant change (the number of people following Jesus) from beginning to end, which shows us the author’s intentions: to demonstrate the impact of our response to Jesus’ words. This insight arises from examining why the author wrote the passage this way.

Finding the main point of a passage is not easy, but it’s worth it. The main point is your front-row ticket to the revealed glory of God, and it will equip you to think and speak with clarity and power when you teach the word.

A Bible Reading Plan for Readers

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This is a great time to consider a new reading plan. While it requires discipline, it can also be great fun. The following article describes the speed-reading Bible plan I’ve followed since 2011. This article first appeared at The Gospel Coalition.

With the new year approaching, prepare yourself for the onslaught of Bible reading advice. “Slow down.” “Savor the Scripture.” “Whatever your plan, stick to it for the whole year.”

Such advice sounds good for those who prefer Peter Jackson to J. R. R. Tolkien or who would choose a locally anesthetized lobotomy over any sort of reading assignment. Non-readers show courageous faith when they commit to regular patterns of Bible reading at predictable intervals, and I laud their desire to draw closer to the Lord.

Leland Francisco (2011), Creative Commons

Leland Francisco (2011), Creative Commons

But what about those of us who enjoy reading? Why limit ourselves to a few chapters (or a few verses) 10 minutes a day?

Perhaps you were one of the geniuses who devoured Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows within two weeks of its publication. Maybe a Kindle deal puts a spring in your step. You always have one or more books going, and you have to set boundaries so blogs don’t overrun your life.

You, like the non-readers mentioned above, love the Bible as God’s Word. And you think following Jesus is more than a passing fad. You love to read, and the Bible is a book.

Here’s my advice: Read the Bible.

Go for It

Just go for it. Read all of it. Read the Bible like you would watch the Olympics. Delightfully. Astoundingly. In large doses over a few weeks. As though your hope of world peace depends on it. With an eye to the spectacular drama.

I dare you to read the entire Bible this year, and to read it as fast as you can.

I’ve done it annually since 2011, and I plan to keep doing it. My practice has been to drop all recreational reading (fiction, non-fiction, magazines) on January 1, at which point I read nothing but the Bible until I’ve finished it. My goal is to finish more quickly than I finished the previous year, or by all means to beat the first day of spring. (After that point, I don’t set the Bible aside but reinstitute a more measured pace and reintroduce other books into my literary diet.)

For each year’s sprint, I’ve read a different translation. I’ve used a different reading sequence (chronological, historical, canonical). I use a mobile-compatible app—I like YouVersion—so I can read anywhere at any time and be able to pick up where I left off. For the last two years, I made use of the terrific ESV Reader’s Bible (Amazon | Westminster), which made the reading experience more attractive than ever. This year, I can’t wait to enjoy my speed-read with the hot new ESV Reader’s Bible, 6-volume set (Amazon | Westminster).

To be clear, the kind of reading I suggest is not mindless but voluminous, and for a season. The Bible expects us to read meditatively (Psalm 1:2, 119:97, etc.), and while meditation may involve a small chunk of text read at a slow pace, it doesn’t have to. Just as we can meditate on nibbles, so we can meditate on gobbles.

For example, upon reading Deuteronomy in one or two sittings I’m floored by the absolute necessity but innate impossibility of worshiping Yahweh as the only true God. This theme saturates the entire book, and for months after reading it I’m driven to meditate on both my need for a new heart and my hope of glory, Christ in me (Col 1:27).

Happier with Him

I don’t perform this annual romp through Scripture to make God any happier with me; I do it because it makes me happier with him. It does this in a number of ways.

1. It helps me grasp the overall story of the Bible. Though the Bible contains 66 books written by numerous human authors, it’s also one book with one divine author. The story begins well, declines quickly, and builds tension through the Old Testament. It climaxes in Jesus and resolves with much hope. Consuming the whole Bible in a short period keeps the big picture prominent.

2. It reminds me the Bible is a work of literature. All year long, I get plenty of time to analyze short passages of Scripture in detail. But for this short season, I loosen my literary inhibitions and succumb to the glory of the most influential book on the market. I saturate myself in the biblical text, frolicking through it like a well-fed dolphin in open water. I learn to see the Bible more as a collection of books than a collection of chapters, and the rhetorical intent of each human author comes alive.

3. It gets me through the difficult parts more easily. Ridiculing books like Leviticus and Chronicles is pretty hip these days. But with a speedy reading plan, they go by quickly and make more sense in light of the whole. Chronicles tells humanity’s epic tale from creation to Israel’s restoration from exile, and it empowers a new generation to rebuild the nation and re-engage with the Lord. Leviticus shows the wilderness generation how to draw near to God and live in community. A rapid reading plan helps us not to belabor the minutiae, so the “boring” parts of the Bible aren’t all that boring.

4. It heightens my anticipation for Christ. When I consume the Old Testament in large gulps, my spirits rise and fall with the fortunes of God’s people. And there’s more falling than rising, especially in the prophetic books, where oracle upon oracle yields darker condemnation and more violent opposition to the people’s social injustice, rebellion, and idolatry. But the promise of a dawning light pushes me on. When I finally hit the transition from “lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” (Mal 4:6) to “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1)—I’m not exaggerating to say my heart sings. The four Gospels blaze pure light like a God-man on a mountaintop, and I delight anew in the hottest piece of work on the planet. There’s a reason it’s called “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”

If you like to read, you won’t find a better book than the Holy Bible, the unbreakable Scriptures, the sword of the Spirit, the living and abiding Word of God. Take it for a test drive this year, and see if you don’t have the time of your life.

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The Best Ways to Listen to the Bible

By

farmer

anonymous (2012), public domain

God has given us amazing access to his word. In the west, we have thousands of options to buy a printed Bible for a reasonable sum. If you prefer to read the Bible electronically, there are dozens of free avenues on your phone, tablet, or computer.

And we have not exhausted God’s generosity! We have many audio versions of the Bible available. Today I’ll point out three of the best ways I’ve found to listen to the Bible.

Why Listen to the Bible?

Having a personal, physical copy of the Bible is a recent phenomenon. The printing press (15th century) brought books to the masses, and before this Christians had to listen to the Scriptures as they were read aloud. For the original audience of the Bible, listening was their only access to God’s word.

Listening to the Bible is a wonderful convenience. It’s a great way to use your time while exercising, commuting, doing the dishes, or folding the laundry. You might even consider an audio Bible to help your preschoolers have devotions.

Listen for Free

If you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer, free audio Bible options abound. I will highlight the best two services I have used; feel free to suggest others in the comments! (I use Android devices, and the web-based versions of these services are great as well. I suggest looking into the Apple versions too, though I cannot vouch for them personally.)

  • The Bible App (YouVersion) — This is probably the most popular Bible application available. It offers 49 English translations of the Bible for reading, and 12 of these have an audio version. I’m partial to the ESV and NASB, but you could also listen to the NIV, the NLT, or the Message (among others). The Bible App offers reading plans and the ability to make notes and highlights in the text. This app has a strong social component, so it is easy to share what you’re reading and learning with friends.
  • Bible Gateway — This is my go-to Bible application. It also offers many (40) written English translations of the Bible along with nine audio versions. I like the parallel Bible feature, where you can compare two translations of the same passage side by side. There are other study tools available within this app, like Bible dictionaries and commentaries.

Both of these applications are free. Both suggest you make an account, but all the functionality I’ve described is available without signing up.

One Low-Cost Way to Listen

Free audio Bibles are great. The price is right, and you can change translations with the flick of a finger. But when I listen to the Bible, I’m usually looking elsewhere.

Does it sound crazy to pay for something which I could get for free? Hear me out. The Bible apps mentioned above rely on streaming technology, which requires a continuous internet connection. I’m not always connected to the internet, so having the digital files themselves means I’m never without my audio Bible. Also, I’m not dependent on the audio streaming technology when I want to listen. (I had a problem with The Bible App’s audio last year.)

Finally, if you own the files, you can adjust the playback speed. This is a common trick for fans of audiobooks, but most music players on phones and tablets allow you to speed up any track. On the other hand, if you’re enterprising and good with technology, you can remove silence and speed up the audio yourself using free audio editing software like Audacity. Without much trouble, I’ve been able to cut the run time of my audio Bible from 75 hours down to around 54 hours.

I use the ESV Hear the Word audio Bible, read by David Cochran Heath. You can find it for $28.98 at christianaudio.com (non-member price) and for $29.99 at christianbook.com.

I’m sure there are many other worthy audio Bibles you could purchase. If you’re shopping, be sure to check two details. You probably want to avoid dramatized audio Bibles, and you definitely want to avoid any Bible that is abridged.

Happy listening!