Given that the Bible is the written word of God, I should end this series (read the previous posts HERE) by offering a few “tips” for reading the Bible, since it certainly cannot be read like any other text. With that, here are 5 tips for approaching the Sacred Scriptures:
- Pray, pray, pray. We must pray before opening the Scriptures for enlightenment from God. We must pray after reading the Scriptures in thanksgiving to God. And we must pray throughout reading the Scriptures in order to try and encounter God in them and apply them to our life. Of course, the tried and trusted practice of praying the Scriptures is the practice of Lectio Divina. The Ladder of Monks by Guigo II is the ancient resource for Lectio Divina, while a helpful book to get you started is Dr. Tim Gray’s Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina.
- Remember that you are in no rush. The most important point is encountering Christ in the Scriptures, not racing through them. Speed reading isn’t really reading, after all, much less when applied to the Word of God. It’s not about getting through the Bible, but encountering Christ in the Bible. That may be a few chapters at a time or may actually be only one verse that you pray with for 10, 15, 20 minutes. Whatever the case, slow and steady wins the race, as Aesop reminds us.
- We have to read the Scriptures regularly, daily if possible. Muscle memory needs to be formed, as with anything else. We read in Psalm 1, for example, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Meditating day and night. A good way to start would be to read one chapter of Scripture in the morning and then one Psalm at night. Even better is praying that one Psalm a night with your spouse, if married.
- Do not worry about starting on page 1 and reading the Bible from cover to cover, for it’s very easy to get overwhelmed and lost in the text. We all know about Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, Moses and the Plagues. But how many understand animal sacrifices in the Book of Leviticus or its purity laws? It’s very easy, starting from page 1 and flipping straight through, to lose sight of the story of salvation history. Start from page 1 if you like, but don’t feel like you can’t start with whatever book (especially the Gospels) that you find yourself most drawn to.
- Take classes with us, especially our Biblical School program! In chapter 8 of Acts, we read of an Ethiopian Eunuch reading from the Prophet Isaiah. When the Deacon Philip asks him if he understands what he’s reading, the Eunuch responds, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” This is what we are here for – to guide you to an encounter with Christ in the Sacred Scriptures. We’re in the middle of our Scripture classes already for this year, but we always start new classes in the fall every September. And in the meantime, we have plenty of things still coming for this year!
