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Reading the Bible for the First Time

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bible on table

Ryan Riggins (2017), public domain

Imagine that a friend of yours has just become a Christian. She knows of your faith and asks to meet with you.

Your friend knows the Bible is an important book for Christians, and she wants to read it. But she has no familiarity with the Bible at all.

What would you say to her?

Only the Essentials

This post isn’t an attempt to say everything about the Bible, just what would be most helpful to a person reading the Bible for the first time.

In what follows, I’ve collected some important facts and advice aimed at first-time Bible readers. If you have further additions or suggestions, I’d love to read them in the comments!

6 Facts About the Bible

Welcome to the Bible! As you begin, you should know some information about the book you’re about to read.

  1. The Bible is God’s word. Though the Bible was written in time and space by human authors, it is divinely inspired. God’s love and sovereignty are such that the words we have are exactly what he intended. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)
  2. The Bible is true. If God is the ultimate author of the Bible then we will see his character throughout this book. Since he is perfect, pure, and unable to lie, the Bible is trustworthy and true.
  3. The Bible is important. A small number of questions in life have ultimate consequences. What is God like? What does he think of me? What does he want people to do? Because God wants to be known, he has answered these questions in the Bible.
  4. The Bible is concerned with God and his people. The relationship between God and his rebellious people—first the nation of Israel and then the church—is the focus of God’s word. Biblical teachings have massive implications for individuals, but they are primarily addressed to groups of people.
  5. The entire Bible is about Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead, he explained to some of his disciples that every part of the Bible spoke of him. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
  6. The Bible is clear. Though some parts of the Bible are difficult to understand, far more of the Bible is plain. After all, in several places, God commands his people to teach the Bible to their children. We must interpret the more challenging parts of Scripture in light of the portions that are clear. The Bible is not only for those with high IQs or advanced degrees; the Bible is knowable to everyone.

7 Suggestions for Reading the Bible

There is much more to say about the Bible, but for those just starting out, it is more important for you to start reading. Here are some suggestions for reading the Bible that apply just as much on Day 1 of your Bible-reading adventure as they will on Day 10,000.

  1. Pray before you read the Bible. Because the Bible is God’s word, we need his help to understand and benefit from reading it. God loves to answer this prayer!
  2. You don’t need to read the Bible from start to finish. Many Christians read the Bible from Genesis straight through to Revelation, but this is not necessary. I suggest starting with the Gospel of John, then Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Then move on to Genesis and Exodus. There’s no single correct way to read the Bible.
  3. You don’t need to read the entire Bible right away. Read-the-Bible-in-a-year plans are popular, but these are not mandated by God. You should eventually make your way through the whole Bible, but it is far more important to read carefully and slowly than to read quickly without understanding.
  4. Reread the Bible. Plan to read the Bible for as long as you live. We need to reread the Bible both because we forget what is true and because each reading of the Bible offers more riches than the last.
  5. Read the Bible with others. Christians are a part of God’s family and we are called into community with each other. This is important for many reasons, including understanding and applying the Bible. Seek out a Bible-believing church and some people within the church with whom to read and discuss the Bible.
  6. Establish a habit. The sooner you can make regular Bible intake a part of your life, the better. Find a good time and place for reading the Bible, and try to read regularly. A habit like this doesn’t make you more precious to God, but it could make God more precious to you.
  7. Study the Bible. While the Bible is knowable, sometimes it requires work to understand what it says. Older Christians in your church should be able to offer guidance, and we have lots of articles and resources on this web site to help.
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This post was originally published in 2018.

Follow the Bible’s Larger Story

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To help guide you to stronger, more delightful Bible reading, Stephen Kneale offers four guiding principles:

  1. What does this say about Jesus?
  2. How does this fit with/relate to other passages?
  3. Read it knowing God ordained events as part of his story
  4. Let the clear interpret the less clear

Kneale writes:

Though we affirm the perspicuity of scripture and the fundamental clarity of its essential message, the ever-present issue when reading the Bible is this: how do I know I am reading it rightly? It is all too easy to read ourselves into the story when it isn’t necessarily about us, miss the main point of a passage or just badly misread what is said altogether. Whilst utter interpretative perfection is unlikely to any of us, there are some helpful guiding principles that can keep us on the right track with any passage of scripture.

While these are not the only principles that could or should guide your Bible reading, they represent some good habits to develop as you go.

Check it out!

Rediscovering Joy in Bible Reading

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I appreciate this brief reflection by Simon van Bruchem about “Finding Joy in Bible Reading.” Among other things, he suggests:

It will help if we consider what we are doing when we read the Bible. It is not like a textbook we have to wade through in order to pass an exam. It is not something we have to do out of expectation or duty. It is something we get to do; a privilege, a blessing.

Countless people through history would have loved to have the access to God’s word that we enjoy today. We can read and we have it (most of the time) in our own language. We can afford it; we can get access for free on our phones or the internet. We have it in audio form and have so many books that help us understand it. What a blessing this is!

He discusses the fact that we love hearing from the people we love. In the pages of Scripture, we hear from the lover of our souls.

Check it out!

The Real Reasons Most Don’t Read the Bible

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This thought-provoking piece by Ava Ligh warrants considerable reflection. In addressing the question “Why don’t we read the Bible more?” Ligh suggests that the most commonly-given answer — that we don’t have time — is not the real answer. (My co-blogger Ryan would agree.)

Instead, Ligh suggests that:

The real reasons we don’t read the Bible go unexamined because we consider them unacceptable. The Bible feels boring and like a waste of time. I’ve had this confirmed by the college students to whom I minister. It’s boring for those who have grown up in Sunday School and feel they already know all the stories and key verses and that there’s nothing new to learn. It feels like a waste of time for those who find the Bible difficult to understand. 

Note: that doesn’t mean the Bible is a boring book but that we are bored readers. There is a difference. (Again, I suspect Ryan would agree.)

For that reason, Ligh explains three common misunderstandings of the Bible that tend to produce bored Bible readers.

  1. The Bible is to be applied.
  2. The Bible is a collection of isolated teachings.
  3. The Bible should be instantly understandable.

Ligh corrects each misunderstanding with a thoughtful and cogent alternative that ought to spur us on to greater delight in this Book of books.

Check it out!

Eight Evidences that the Bible Tells a Single Story

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M.R. Conrad wants you to know the Bible is “one grand narrative,” and he gives 8 pieces of evidence. Included on the list are the one author, the one main character, the anticipation of Christ at every point, and the overall tension leading to a final conclusion.

I won’t list all 8 of Conrad’s proofs. You’ll have to click over to see the full description.

Check it out!

You Can Read the Bible to Your Kids

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When my oldest daughter was about to turn 6, she endured a season of feeling great burdens for people who don’t know Jesus. She prayed for them often. She wept. She brought Jesus into conversations. On occasion, she would wake in the night from sadness for unbelieving friends and family members. She spoke of becoming a missionary when she grew up so she could tell more people about Jesus.

My wife and I did all we could to foster such missionary zeal. We’d be delighted to see one or more of our children dedicate their lives to full-time Christian service, whether at home or abroad. So we spoke about this calling with our daughter. We gave her missionary biographies. We prayed fervently with her. Our church even invited her to join the Missions Committee.

And one day, out of the blue, she asks me an innocent question that cuts me deeply. “Papa, how can I tell people about Jesus when I grow up, unless you first read the whole Bible to me?”

The Quandary

I’m embarrassed to say it, but it’s true: It had never occurred to me to simply read the Bible to my kids. We fill our home with things read. We read fiction and non-fiction. We listen to audiobooks during rest time and in the car. We read at the dinner table. We read independently and together, silently and out loud. We read and read and read. But, before my daughter’s question, our reading rarely included the Bible.

To be sure, we tried our hand at family devotions. I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be, but we still did it a few times each week. Such devotions involved a few short Bible verses, a passage from a wonderful children’s devotional, a few good questions, and prayer.

But if we were going to sit and just read something, it wouldn’t be the Bible. It couldn’t be the Bible, right? Children aren’t ready for that. Instead, we’d read The Chronicles of Narnia, or The Penderwicks, or the latest wonder from N.D. Wilson. Maybe The Jesus Storybook Bible. But not actually The Holy Bible. No way.

Yet my daughter’s question cut me to the quick. The shocking realization rocked my world: You can read the Bible to your kids. I can read the Bible to my kids.

So, on her 6th birthday, my daughter received my solemn promise, with the Lord’s help, to read her the entire Bible by her 18th birthday. She just turned 8 a few weeks ago, and so far we’re on track to fulfill that promise.

Jan Rowley, Creative Commons

How We Do It

I have more than one child, so as family patriarch, I made the call to include all the children in our Bible reading time. To help you picture the context, my children are now 10, 10, 8, 6, 2, and 10 months. Sometimes we exempt the baby from Bible reading time if she needs to be fed. And sometimes the toddler is still finishing her nap. Beyond that, however, nobody gets an excused absence.

To make time for family Bible reading, we actually had to drop out of a Bible club, where four of my children attended and I taught a class. The club was great, and everybody was learning and growing in Christ. But we decided to place higher priority, this one night a week, on our own family Bible reading.

So we gather Sunday evenings for an hour. The children get notified 60 and 30 minutes prior to Bible reading time, so they have enough warning to finish up whatever they may be doing. At 10 minutes before, we ask them to begin the transition by using the bathroom and bringing to the living room whatever they want to have with them during Bible reading time.

The children can have books, toys, games, legos, coloring books, painting supplies, dolls, matchbox cars, chess sets. Whatever. Just nothing electronic. They can do anything they want during Bible reading time, as long as 1) it is silent, and 2) it can be done without leaving the living room.

Then they sit, play, and listen while I read for about an hour.

We began with Genesis 1 and have gone straight through. Occasionally, I’ll stop to clarify something or to take a question. This way, we’ve discussed covenants, circumcision, uncleanness, prostitution, dreams, altars, ancient dating customs, the best ways to kill Philistines, and what it means for a woman to be violated. We’ve befriended Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Samson, and David. We’ve read long lists of names. We’ve jeered Saul. We’ve mourned for Absalom, our son, our son; if only we had died instead of him. We’ve climbed on the coffee table to picture Goliath’s scornful mocking and his brutal fall. And we’ve joined the tribes of Israel in shouting “Amen” after each covenantal curse (Deut 27:14-26).

Of course, the Pentateuch was a challenge. But the children are used to enough rituals, rules, and procedures that it was probably harder for me than it was for them. We’re just about to finish 2 Samuel. And yes, we’ve hit some dark content. But, as we allow the Scripture to drive our spiritual discussions, the children have been more than mature enough to handle the subject matter. I can’t yet comment on how we got through the Psalms or Prophets.

Before we start a new book, we always watch The Bible Project’s overview video of that book, and this proves to be a highlight for the children. They refer to the videos as we then work our way through the book.

Conclusion

Of course, you don’t have to do it the same way I do. But I hope to encourage you with a simple proposition: You can read the Bible to your kids. You don’t need a perfect schedule, or a perfect set of devotions from an expert. Your children can handle it, as long as you are enthusiastic about it. Who knows how God might use his knowable word in your family?

This post was first published in 2017. At the links, you can also find my reflections at the mid point and completion of our family Bible reading adventure.

Announcing our 10th Annual Bible Reading Challenge

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We believe one of the best ways to learn to study the Bible is to read it. A lot of it. Over and over again. That way, when the foundations are destroyed, the righteous will know what to do. When the wicked bend the bow, the children of God hide in the one who is their refuge. When surrounded by those who have lost their minds, the people of God have sure footing and a stabilizing security.

If you’re not sure what I mean by all these foundations/bow/sure footing metaphors, then maybe this is your year to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Objective truth and emotional stability are yours for the taking. Not by toughening yourself up (Prov 18:11, 26:12), but by perceiving who really sits on throne (Psalm 11:1-7, Matt 6:19-21). You’ll only see, though, if you’ve got the eyes for it.

But I digress and perhaps ought to get to the point.

The Challenge

I’m writing to announce our 10th annual Bible reading challenge. The challenge is to read the entire Bible within 90 days. If you wish, you may begin today. Regardless of when you begin, your 90-day period must end no later than March 31, 2025. Once you complete your reading, you may submit an entry form (see below) to enter a prize drawing.

And why—you ask—would you embark on such a strange venture? (“Has the day finally come,” they inquire, “when the Lord has struck with madness the riders of this horse we call the blogosphere?” Zech 12:4) I can think of at least three reasons.

  1. Your grasp of the Bible’s big picture will surge like a second wind for Ahimaaz (2 Samuel 18:19-28).
  2. Your reward in heaven will be great.
  3. We’ve got a sweet set of prizes to urge you on in the present age.

Because this is our 10th annual reading challenge, we’re blowing things up this year. There are not one but two grand prizes. And for every 10 people who complete this year’s challenge, there will be an additional prize package. On top of all that, we will grant extra entries into the drawing for anyone who recruits first-timers to complete the challenge with them.

Grand Prizes

The first grand prize is a 12-month pro-level subscription to Logos Bible Software. Logos has been the most requested grand prize for this year’s challenge, and due to the generosity of Faithlife (makers of Logos), your faith has become sight. Just this year, Logos has shifted to a subscription model. So one winner of our drawing will be gifted a 12-month subscription at the Pro level, which includes a library of over 500 books, along with tools for note-taking, counseling, preaching, marking up the text, making presentations, and access to five free mobile ed courses each quarter of the year. Find my review of the new subscription-based Logos here.

The second grand prize is a premium book rebinding provided by Pro Libris Rebinding. The winner of this prize is invited to take their favorite Bible, novel, or other book, send it to Pro Libris, and have it re-bound with a premium leather cover and binding. Or if you can’t decide which book of your own to get rebound, we will provide you with a free copy of a one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice, and Pro Libris will give it the premium treatment. You can view a sample of Pro Libris’s work at their Facebook and Instagram pages.

We want you to read and re-read God’s word for years to come, so we’re offering these prizes to catalyze a habit of such delightful romps.

Additional Prizes

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the two grand prizes, we will offer one additional prize for every 10 people who complete this year’s Bible reading challenge. That means that if only 10 people complete the challenge, two of them will win the grand prizes, and one will get an additional prize. If 100 people complete the challenge, two will win grand prizes, and ten will secure an additional prize.

So your odds of winning a prize this year could be greater than 10%. Can you find any other giveaway on the Internet with such great odds of winning? And though the physical discipline and training of reading the Bible in 90 days is of some value, the character and godliness which it instills in you holds promise not only for the present life but also for the life to come.

Everyone selected to win an additional prize will get to choose one of the following options:

  1. A one-volume reader’s Bible of your choice.
  2. A copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word.

Please note: Physical prizes are limited to people with addresses in the United States. Winners in other parts of the world will receive a $50 Amazon gift card via email.

Referral Bonus

One last new spin on this year’s challenge: the referral bonus.

On the entry form for this year’s challenge, there will be a place for you to mark whether this is your first time completing the challenge. And if it is your first time, there will be a place for you to provide the name of the person who recruited you to try the challenge.

Both recruits and recruiters will benefit:

  • First-timers will gain one extra entry in the drawing for naming the person who recruited them to this year’s challenge, if that recruiter also completes this year’s challenge.
  • Anyone who completes the challenge and is mentioned by one or more first-timers who also complete the challenge will gain three extra entries in the drawing for each person they recruited to complete the challenge.

Note that both the recruit and the recruiter must complete the challenge. All recruits must be first-timers; recruiters can be either returnees or first-timers themselves.

And as usual, fake, incomplete, or spam entries will be deleted. For example, anyone who fills out the form today or tomorrow clearly hasn’t read the entire Bible within the time window, so their entries won’t count. Also, entries submitted before Bible reading has been completed will be thrown out; this drawing is only for those who read the Bible in 90 days and not for those who intend to read the Bible in 90 days.

So it will do you no good to recruit millions of people to complete the entry form without completing the actual reading challenge. God sees and knows what you are up to, and your entries will be chucked to the place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

Help is Available

If you’d like a checklist to help you stay on pace, here are three. You may make a copy and update the dates, if you plan to start on a date other than January 1.

  1. Canonical Order
  2. Chronological Order
  3. Hebrew OT & NIV Sola Scriptura NT Order

Or here is an iOS app that can help you track your plan. You may also want to consider making a reading plan in the Dwell listening app if you prefer audio. And perhaps you’ll want to bookmark this post so you can find the entry form once you complete the reading.

You may now begin any time, and may this be the ride of your life.

Official Rules

Here are the rules:

  1. You must read (not scan or skim) all 66 books of the Protestant Bible. You may choose the translation and reading plan (canonical, chronological, etc.). You don’t have to stop and meditate on every detail, but the Lord sees and knows when you are being honest about reading and not skimming. Listening to an unabridged audio Bible is acceptable. You may also use any combination of audio and visual reading, as long as you’ve read or listened to the entire Bible within the allotted time period.
  2. You must read the entire Bible within a 90-day period.
  3. The last day of that 90-day period must be between November 10, 2024 and March 31, 2025. If you’d like to understand why we recommend such fast-paced reading, see our Bible reading plan for readers.
  4. To enter the drawing, you must fill out the survey below, letting us know the dates you read and what you thought of the speed-reading process. Your thoughts do not have to be glowing, but they should be honest; you’ll still be entered into the drawing if you didn’t enjoy your speed-read.
  5. Any submissions to the form below that don’t meet the requirements or appear to be fabricated will be deleted. For example: multiple entries with different data, date of completion not between November 8, 2024 and March 31, 2025, “What I thought about the experience” has nothing to do with Bible reading, or date of completion is later than the date of entry submission (please don’t try to enter the drawing if you plan to read the Bible; only enter once you have completed reading it).
  6. In the first week of April 2025, we will randomly select 2 grand-prize winners from those who have submitted the form. Each will be assigned one of the grand prizes, but those two winners may swap prizes if they both agree to it.
  7. Then we will randomly select, for an additional prize package, one winner for every 10 legitimate submissions to the drawing (e.g. 50 total submissions means 5 additional prize packages).
  8. We will email all winners (both grand-prize and additional-prize) to get their shipping addresses. If a winner does not respond to our request for a shipping address within 1 week, a new winner will be selected in their place.
  9. The first grand-prize winner will receive a 12-month Pro-level subscription to Logos Bible Software.
  10. The second grand-prize winner (if in US) will receive a premium book rebinding for a Bible or book of their choice (from their personal library), or for a new one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice.
  11. Additional-prize winners (if in US) will select either a copy of both Knowable Word and Sowable Word or a one-volume reader’s Bible of their choice. (While these are not your only options, we have reviewed the following: ESV, CSB, NIV.)
  12. Any winner who does not qualify for a physical prize will receive a US $50 Amazon gift card via email.
  13. Unfortunately, though they are among the most courageous and competent people on the planet, staff members of DiscipleMakers are not eligible to win the drawing.

Glorious Gospel Stories

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The Lord gave us not one but four accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. Steve Burchett wants to help you appreciate and understand them better. He explains that the stories of the gospels:

  1. Are God’s revelation to us.
  2. Proclaim truths that make believers increasingly holy.
  3. Are both gripping and Christ exalting — a powerful combination when evangelizing the lost.

Burchett goes on to offer practical suggestions for reading and understanding these stories rightly.

Check it out!

When God Seems Absent in Bible Reading

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Christian Gafenesch (2022), public domain

In my previous post, I wrote about the way God reveals himself through the Scriptures. I claimed that he meets with us when we seek him in the Bible and that he entices us to continue seeking him.

I’m guessing some readers finished that post and muttered, “yeah, right.” For many people what I described seems like a dream, completely divorced from their difficult reality. For these Christians, Bible reading is not joyful, but difficult. It feels much less like a meeting with a loving, fatherly God than it does a dry, drowsy duty. They gain no encouragement, conviction of sin, or measure of hope when they open the Word.

In short, it feels like God is absent.

If this describes your situation, you’re in good company. Not only do I have some good news for you from the Bible, but many Christians now and throughout history feel and have felt exactly the same way you do.

Is God Actually Absent?

For Christians, God is not absent. This isn’t to deny what people feel and experience, just to state the Scriptural reality: God has promised never to leave or forsake his people (Heb 13:5).

You may feel that God is distant or absent, and that is a common feeling and experience. But when God the Holy Spirit comes in our conversion, he does not leave. This presence of God himself is a down payment or a small taste of the full divine presence we will enjoy in the new creation.

So, God may not be absent, but it sure feels like he is sometimes. We might not be able to point to a specific cause behind this effect, but we can easily find similar expressions of this feeling in the Bible.

Lamenting God’s Absence

Prayer in the Bible comes in many flavors, including prayers of lament. A lament is simply an honest cry to God about the sorrowful parts of living life in a fallen world. And these parts include feeling like God is absent.

Hear the ways the psalmists pray.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1–2)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. (Psalm 22:1–2)

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me? (Psalm 88:13–14)

These Biblical prayers do not fit our present condition exactly; however, they are all examples of saints who were expecting God to be present in their troubles and their experience is the opposite. (It has been helpful for me to realize that many of the psalms are psalms of lament; here is a list to consult.)

How to Handle God’s Perceived Absence in our Bible Reading

My basic advice when Bible readers don’t secure a take-home nugget every day was it’s okay and keep going. My advice in this post is basically the same, but with a few more specifics.

Pray. It is good for us to share our hearts with the God who already knows them. Use some of the language of the psalms of lament or put your frustration into your own words, but talk to God! Ask him: he has promised never to leave you, so why does it feel like he has?

Ask others to pray. As I mentioned above, this feeling is not unusual. If you take someone aside after church, you’ll almost always see a sympathetic smile in return. Enlist your Christian friends to ask God to make his presence real to you again.

Read with others. In the global west, we often individualize our relationships with God, but this doesn’t have to be! If you’re struggling to read or study the Bible on your own, perhaps a friend would be willing to read or study the Bible with you a few days each week. God may use this shared experience to meet with you more intimately.

Keep reading. The Bible is a treasure because it reveals God himself. Sometimes this treasure seems easy to access, like candy at Halloween. At other times, it seems entirely invisible. Talk with older saints and listen to their testimonies: these dry periods eventually come to an end.