Making Friends with Your Bible

Wowowow it's been more than 2 months since I wrote my last post!

Ahem... Anyways..

At times the Bible can feel like the most hard-going, difficult, confusing and boring book that has ever been written. The problem is that the Bible is very complicated!

Why??

• It isn't a single book at all! The word 'Bible' means 'library' and that's exactly what it is - 66 books in all: 39 in the first section and 27 in the second.

• It was written by about 40 authors over a time period spanning more than 1000 years and it contains about 750,000 words. And if that's not enough, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek!

How complicated can a book be??!! No book is as complicated as the Bible!

So why bother? In a world where magazines, TV, radio, newspapers and other books bombard us with so many conflicting ideas about life, the Bible claims to be directly inspired by God Himself - It's the creator's message to His world. If that's true it means that the Bible is in a completely different league from any other advice you can find. If the Bible is God's guidebook to life it makes sense to take it very, very seriously.

Okay... So, how do you make fiends with the Bible?
And get the most out of reading it?

Here are the ten DO's and DON'Ts that have helped me..

• DO use a modern translation.

It's very important that you read a version which captures the depth of the original language at the same time as expressing its truth in a clear up to date way.

• DON'T rush - Read slowly.

Think about what you are reading. Quality comes before quantity. Read it more than once. You'll find that you'll notice all sorts of things you missed first time round.
Remember that it's better to understand one verse than read a whole chapter and forget the lot!

• DO pray first.

Ask God to speak to you. You might just pray, "Help me, God, to discover you and your will as I read my Bible." After you've finished reading it pray and talk to God about the things that He has said to you or if you have found it hard to understand, be honest with Him about it.

• DON'T use it as a lucky dip.

Don't open it at random and expect some magic word of phrase to leap out and solve all your problems. If you do you are almost bound to end up getting confused. And don't try and read it from cover to cover right away.
As I've already said it is a big and complicated book. Like with all other guidebooks the most sensible thing to do is go to the issue you are thinking about at the time.

• DO read it regularly.

Just like food and exercise, 'little and often' is the best. If you can, set aside a short time everyday to read a passage from the Bible and think it through. If your routine changes at the weekend, do something different then. Re-read what you have looked at during the week or talk it over with a fiend. But remember that there is no right way to read the Bible. It's up to you to work out what suits you best.

• DON'T feel guilty if you miss a day.

Why? Firstly, because everyone does. So you aren't odd. Life doesn't always work out quite according to plan for anybody.
Secondly, the important point isn't to have your daily dose of Bible once every 24 hours but to take in its message.

• DO ask yourself lots of questions.

It's your job to find out what it's really saying rather than inventing your own meanings. Only when you have got to grips with its original meaning can you go on to discover what it;s saying to you now.

Here are 2 sets of questions to help you ask your Bible passage:

What it meant then

1. Who was the author and when and why was it written?
2. What kind of writing is it? Is it a story or poetry and is the writer using symbols and pictures? If so, what do they mean?
3. Why did the author put it like this?
4. Was it written for a particular person or groups of people?
5. What would the first readers have understood from these words?

What it means now

1. What is God saying to me through this passage?
2. What should I do?
3. What does it say about me or my situation?
4. What does it say about my relationships with God and with others?
5. Is there any special command, promise, warning or example that I should take notice of?

• DON'T be put off when you have a boring week or more!

It happens to everyone and you are probably gaining far more than you realise - though of course that will be easier to see looking back than at the time. The secret is to be disciplined and just keep on going.

• DO read it responsibly.

Having a time when you read the Bubble each day isn't an end in itself, it is only a meas to an end - understanding more about Jesus Christ, your Lord, friend, boss and brother. The biggest question isn't how much we have read but about how much we have done about what we have read. Once having heard what God is saying about something we have a responsibility to act on it or to ignore it.

• DON'T be worried if you don't understand something.

If you come across a difficult passage or anything that confuses you, get some help. If you have a Bible commentary, concordance or Bible Dictionary, check it out there. If you can't solve it ask your leader, minister or a friend - someone that you trust to help you understand it.



NB : I didn't make these. And I'm not saying my Bible reading life is perfect, well.. It's not. I'm just trying to help..

Enjoy! : )