I really should be ashamed to admit this but I will because I truly think it will help someone else. So, I have a confession to make:
After growing up in church and becoming a Christian several years ago and having read the Bible all the way through more than once, I only just now learned how to read my Bible.
There. It feels good to just get that out. Now, here is the rest of the story:
I have been using my KJV Study Bible for the last, oh... four years? I started because the pastor of the church I attended back in Anchorage suggested that it was the best Bible for devotional reading. Up until then, I had been mostly using the Amplified, NKJV, or NASB version at home and using whatever KJV Bible was in the back of the pew at church. I had (and still do) several phone apps with all kinds of versions of the Bible. The point is, I didn't really mind whatever Bible I used because I was only reading the words from book to book and by chapter and verse. I rarely, if ever, paid any attention to the extras.
As you can see, those "helps" are useful if you are really trying to study. And this is just in a regular "reference" type of Bible. My mother used this kind of Bible so there was always one around the house.
Like a lot of people, I usually opted for a Bible version without the thees and thous. Funny enough, now that I am really immersing myself in Bible study and reading, that doesn't trip me up.
My KJV Study Bible is much like this one - except mine is a soft-cover version. And the How-To-Use section is almost identical to the one in my Bible.
See what I mean? Helpful. And I had barely paid attention to it until I started doing a lot of Bible studies and began a chronological read-through.
Yes, I am embarrassed. But I am so happy that I finally took the time to learn how to properly read and study my Bible.
The chronological reading plan is one with which you are reading the Bible in the order things happened. Since I obviously wasn't paying much attention all the other times I read through the Bible, I am enjoying this plan. It takes longer because I am stopping to read all the explanatory notes, check some of the cross-references, and reflect on various things. I try to take notes also.
Let me tell you what an amazing difference it is to use all of the aids and actually ponder things as you read. And I am doing something that Chuck Missler suggested: reading aloud. Because I have such struggles with concentration and memory, hearing myself read the words is more useful than I would have thought.
Right now, my best friend is going through some things and this lockdown doesn't help her mood. What I have been doing is something that helps us both. Whenever we talk (almost daily), I will share what I learned from my reading or study. She feels better after our sharing conversations and I have added another reinforcement for my own memory. (Did that make sense???)
So, basically, I just writing this post to encourage others to use all the resources that come with their Bible. Right now, a lot of us are not attending church on a regular basis. We might as well use the lockdown time to just soak ourselves in God's Word.
The links I added in the post will go over the different types of reading plans. Also, there are a lot of apps and free web resources for tips on studying or reading your Bible. Here are the few that I picked up and am implementing:
- Try doing your reading/study at the same time every day or session. (I like doing mine just before bed or first thing in the morning.)
- Read out loud. You don't have to read loud but it helps to vocalize the words. This helps me remember what I have read.)
- Get a notebook or staple some paper together to make a little notes journal. There are some nice journals out there but they get spendy. (I have some newsprint paper that I fold and staple into little booklets. The paper is super-affordable and easy to write on. Newsprint is also really thin and I like using it to slip notes between Bible pages.
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- If you can, try sharing what you read with someone. Sharing and discussing what you read/studied is uplifting and helps to reinforce the lessons.
- If you struggle with procrastinating, remind yourself that you would make time to play a game on your phone, watch a TV show or YouTube video, etc.
- Be thankful that we still live in a place where we are allowed to read our Bibles without worrying about being jailed or killed. I will remind myself to be thankful that I still have eyesight and that my brain works enough for me to read God's Word.
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