Oftentimes, Christians have a desire to read their Bibles and the scriptures to learn more about God’s word, but feel they don’t have the time or are not sure the best approach. If you want to grow spiritually, it’s important that some time be dedicated regularly to reading the scriptures and study the teachings of Christ.
One of the ways to approach this is to start small. We often fail when we try to make big changes in our life because we come up against our internal resistance or the status quo (the way we always do things). The mind doesn’t like change, but by starting small, we actually trick it. The mind will say, you’re not doing enough, but even small changes over extended periods garner great fruit. It only takes a one degree change on a flight pattern to take you to a totally different destination.
To begin, decide how much time you can devote to reading or studying the Bible and when. It may be 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or more. It really doesn’t matter. Just decide on a time that you can really fit in. Then decide on a time and look at it as your appointment with God. Put it on the calendar of your heart as well as your day planner and guard this time. It is sacred.
Truly this is the most difficult part. After you establish a time, there are many approaches to studying the Bible.
I would suggest deciding upon a purpose. What do you want to learn? What principles would you want to further your knowledge? Always pray for help in choosing a purpose if you are not sure. This will help to determine how and why you are reading the scripture and give you a reason to do so. For example, I want to walk more like Jesus, I want to overcome a certain habit, I want to feel closer to God, I want more faith, or I want meditate on God’s word and hide it in my heart.
Several of my favorite methods of reading God’s words is to meditate on it. To do this, I select a relevant scripture and just slowly repeat it in my mind for 5–20 minutes. This is called Scripture meditation. I also enjoy reading through the Bible chronologically, maybe one chapter each time and reflect upon or jot down whatever touches my heart.
Another popular Bible reading method is called Learn 5 Bible Study Technique. You can google and find out more about this method.
Always keep your journal on hand to write down any thoughts or inspirations that come up during your study of God’s word. This can help you more to fully understand the meaning of the things you have found.
If you want to learn more about Scripture meditation and other tools to help you grow as a believer, visit, The Christian Meditator.
