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How Much Time Should Be Spent Reading the Bible?

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Tim Challies was recently asked a pretty common question:

I was recently part of a panel discussion when a question came up that I have heard various times and in various forms. It goes something like this: How much time should I spend reading the Bible compared to the time I spend reading other books? The question usually comes from someone who enjoys recreational reading, whether in the form of just-for-fun fiction or feed-my-soul nonfiction. He usually finds that he spends more time reading other books than he spends reading the Bible, and this leaves him grappling with guilt.

Challies chose to answer the question with another set of questions that are far more helpful. In so doing, he tries to help us view Bible reading less like “reading” and more like “hearing God’s voice.” When you perceive your time in Scripture as time with a trusted friend and master, it will reshape the way you approach that time.

Check it out!

Is the Bible Intimidating?

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Does the Bible seem intimidating to you? Isn’t it quite long, and is it difficult to find your way? It’s not the easiest read, especially if you try to go front to back.

Rebekah Matt is here to help. She provides a great introduction to the most intimidating aspects of the Bible, along with great suggestions for overcoming them.

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Hanging on his Every Word

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J.A. Medders wants you to see “Bible Reading as a Blessing, Not a Burden.” Here is a taste:

Luke 19:48 …the people were hanging on his words.

Luke’s comment struck me—“hanging on his words.”

Isn’t this what we want in our Bible reading? I crave this kind of attention, posture, and focus for God’s word. But, sadly, it’s not always the case.

I lament the times I read the word and think, “What did I just read? I can’t remember anything.” I was hovering over his words.

I loathe the times I’m distracted by a screen, or a crick in the neck, or an overly groggy eye. Or even worse, when the pillow seems more pleasing.

I suspect I’m not alone in my laments and loathes. And I bet you want to hang on the word of God, too.

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Reading the Bible for the Ten Thousandth Time

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bible glasses

Lilian Dibbern (2018), public domain

We’re good at learning our surroundings, aren’t we? After living in one place for many years, we know every last detail. We know which noises are normal and which drips and knocks require a phone call. We know the cold spots of each room, the number of stairs between floors, and which floorboards squeak the loudest. If necessary, we could find our bed in the deepest darkness, because we know our place. It’s home.

For some people, this familiarity is comforting. They like the warmth and security that comes from knowing a place inside and out. But for others, the comfort makes them uneasy. It seems boring and dry, like a mouth full of uncooked oats. They start to look for something new.

Some might think of the Bible as predictable and stuffy, especially those who have been reading it for years. They know every beat of every story. There are no more surprises; the excitement is gone.

By instinct we know that first-time readers of the Bible need guidance. But long-time readers need help too. In this article we’ll explore some of the ways to combat boredom and lethargy for experienced Bible readers.

Five Ways to Fight Bible Weariness

There are many ways to guard against the boredom that can come with age and familiarity. Here are five of the best.

Remember why you’re reading. The Bible is not boring because it has a grand, explosive, eternal purpose. We read the Bible in order to know the God of the universe! We wouldn’t know him, or know how to approach him, if he didn’t tell us. And because God is infinite, we cannot exhaust our understanding of him. So, while you might know all the stories in the Bible, you can always know and worship the God behind those stories better. And here’s a glorious follow-up: This is exactly what God wants!

Adjust your routine. There are lots of different ways to take in the Bible. If you’ve been reading a lot, try listening. Read through the Bible as quickly as you can. Or take six months, read one book as many times as possible, and let it sink into your bones. Study the Bible, memorize it, sing it. A different translation or a different physical Bible might offer the fresh perspective you need.

Teach the Bible. Most Bible teachers will tell you they learn far more during their teaching than any of their students. Most churches and ministries often need Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and volunteers at the local nursing home. Don’t shy away from children’s ministries either—you really have to know and believe the Bible to explain it to kids! If your Bible intake is not just for yourself, you may find it more challenging, comforting, and life-giving.

Apply the Bible. Though the Bible’s text and truths don’t change, we do. This means that the same accurate interpretation of a passage at age 25 has massively different implications when we’re 55. Application is the most difficult step of Bible study, so we often skip it, but application is precisely where we are forced to trust in God. Our faith grows the most when we take steps of obedience and witness God supporting our feet. To fight disinterest in the Bible, push your Bible study from observation and interpretation all the way to application.

Share the gospel. It’s tempting to think the Bible is dusty and anemic when we never witness the power of God through its words. In addition to applying the Bible to ourselves, we can see this power as we tell others about Jesus. The Holy Spirit most often uses the words of the Bible to awaken the dead and grant faith in Christ, and we can be a part of this! If you want to see just how powerful the Bible is, pray for opportunities to talk to others about Jesus, and then rejoice and obey when those opportunities arise. (God loves to answer this prayer!)

Ask and You Shall Receive

When we feel fatigue with the Bible, the problem is not with the book. The problem is with us.

But remember—God is a compassionate father who loves his children. At the bottom of every strategy given above is this encouragement: Talk honestly with God about your struggles. Confess your sin, your apathy, your lack of love. Ask him to be merciful, to change you from the inside out.

Don’t let your boredom with the Bible lead you away from God. Take it to him; he already knows and is eager and able to help.

This post was originally published in 2018.

Consider Your Assumptions

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Mitch Chase makes an important point: You cannot set aside your assumptions when you read the Bible. Everyone has them.

…nobody reads the Bible with total objectivity. If someone says they’re interpreting Scripture while simultaneously laying aside their presuppositions, the problem becomes one of unexamined and undisclosed presuppositions.

This is one reason we’ve disclosed our foundational assumptions on this blog from the beginning.

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Learn from Why You Stopped Reading the Bible

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Last week, I shared an article that encourages you to just keep reading your Bible, even when you don’t understand all the details. Perhaps that was not helpful, as you have long since given up your Bible reading anyway.

Katie Laitkep is here with strong guidance to help you pick it back up.

If you were sitting across from me and you mentioned that you’d abandoned your Bible reading plan, I wouldn’t ask you about what went well. We’d talk about what didn’t work. We’d start with what made you stop because understanding why you didn’t finish could be the key to helping you begin again.

She goes on to consider a few reasons why people stop reading the Bible, in order to coach you through overcoming those obstacles and getting back to it. Her counsel is really great.

Check it out!

Just Keep Reading

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Erik Lundeen has some surprising advice for those who come to something in their Bible they don’t understand: Just keep reading.

If you’re like many attempting to read through the Bible this year, you’re at a crossroads. You may falter, burning out (as the story often goes) in a difficult section of Scripture like Leviticus and failing to establish a Bible-reading habit. Or you may make it over that initial hump, and regular Bible reading moves from being a checked box to a customary part of life.

I want to help you have the latter experience. I want to offer advice based on years of reading the Bible cover to cover and processing such experiences with others who’ve attempted the same. My advice boils down to this: As you read, keep going and don’t worry too much about understanding. That will come.

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3 Ways to Overcomplicate Your Bible Reading

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Jacob Crouch wants to encourage you to read your Bible. In so doing, he warns of three common pitfalls he’s seen that tend to overcomplicate things:

  1. Studying every passage
  2. Setting unrealistic goals
  3. Having no goals

while this seems like it shouldn’t be controversial to say, I have found that almost every person I talk to in the American South (and I’d imagine is true of a lot of places) has never read through the Bible in it’s entirety. And it’s not just in nominal, cultural Christians. It is often in well-meaning, genuine Christians. Some are even leading in church or para-church ministries. For these people, I don’t think the problem is sincerity, but rather an overcomplicating of the Bible-reading process. I want to shine a light on some common mistakes and hopefully help you avoid them.

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You Don’t Have to Choose Between Truth and Love

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I appreciate Josh Thomas’s thoughtful piece “Big Heads or Big Hearts,” where he considers the false dichotomy of truth vs. love, and he suggests we don’t have to choose between them. Especially in our Bible study.

Sure, it would be unhelpful to study the Bible only to beat people up and prove you have superior knowledge. But that doesn’t mean that a pursuit of love means you don’t need to continue learning from and about the Bible.

Truth and love ought not be thought of as if they are opposites — as if the pursuit of one will automatically detract from the pursuit of the other. Even in specific situations, we shouldn’t think that we need to decide between standing for the truth and loving. We can always do both!

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