Today we bring you a different article, trying to answer a question that surely many of you have asked yourself at some point in your life. How to read the Bible?
The Bible is the best known, most read, most printed book in the world… Even so, it requires a certain amount of attention if you are starting it for the first time. It is true that as we will comment throughout the article, it is always a good time to look for a specific verse, a section that we like the most, etc., but if you want to know how to read it from beginning to end, you have come to the right place. Let’s get started!
Reasons to start reading the Bible
Before we get into the subject, we want to share with you some of the reasons to start reading the Bible. reasons to start reading the Bible.
The reading of the Holy Scriptures can help us:
- It brings us wisdom
- Strength not to fall into daily temptations
- Brings us peace
- It is a guide for life
- It teaches us history and how to understand the life of Jesus.
- …
All of them are enough reasons to start reading this precious book.
How to start reading the Bible
Once we have seen the main reasons why we want to encourage all those who are thinking of starting this precious journey, we want to show you how to read the Bible:
- Ask for help and surrender to God. Turn to Him and ask Him to give you wisdom and understanding as you read. When we pray before studying, we show God that we are humble and that we desire His help and guidance.
- It is not necessary to start at the beginning. As we mentioned before, the Bible is a very extensive book, so you can start wherever you feel like it on the day in question.
- Topics of interest. There are days when we are happy, others when we are a bit depressed, or perhaps we simply want to reinforce our thoughts, etc. Through specific verses you will be able to achieve this. Want to cheer up? Then look up some encouraging verses we wrote some time ago, for example. There are plenty of verses prepared to help you and inspire you, you will surely find them at
Your Bible Online
. - CharactersChoose a character from the Bible and read the verses you can find about them. Try to understand them, in terms of context, message, etc. Ask questions to get to know them better. Ask questions to get to know them better, for example: How did you meet Jesus, what relationship do you have, what can I learn from their life, …?
- Taking notes: it is vital to write down those learnings and thoughts that emerge during the reading. Through respect for these words and reflections, the Lord will reveal new paths to us.
- ResearchingDon’t be afraid to look for meanings of words, parables, … that will help you to better understand the reading and at the same time allow you to connect and enjoy the sacred scriptures.
- …
If you want to review it or simply want to discover how to start reading the Bible in audiovisual format, here is a video that explains it perfectly:
In what order to read the Bible?
In this section you will see the different ways in which you can read the bible in order to advance in your knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. We want to remember that there is no better or worse way, the precious words of the Bible allow them to be enjoyed in different ways regardless of their order. We will now proceed to name the different forms of which we have knowledge:
- In chronological order
- Perhaps in canonical order
- Skipped order
- Performing a partial reading
- Making a complete reading
- Devotional reading
- …
As you can see there are several ways to do this, we recommend that to begin the journey of reading the Bible and better understand its contents, start with the simplest and easiest to understand books (detailed below):
- Gospel of Mark
- Gospel of John
- Proverbs and
Psalms
- Old Testament
- New Testament
When is the best time to read?
Is it better to read in the morning or in the afternoon? Or maybe at night? The truth is that there are very different opinions and we cannot give you a 100% correct answer.
What we can give you, however, is what benefits reading will bring you depending on when you decide to do it.
- Read in the morningReading the Bible in the morning is a highly recommended option, since when we wake up we do not know what the day will bring. For this reason the reading teaches us that we must trust God at all times, that the Word of God that we read at the beginning of the day will help us to stay focused on the good and to act as God has taught us.
- Reading in the afternoonAfter a busy morning or after a good meal, the Bible offers us chapters and short verses
short verses
that can be read in a few minutes. It is a precious moment to think and pray with the Lord while enjoying the pages of his book. - Reading at night: Numerous studies have shown that reading before going to sleep has a relaxing effect, reduces stress, improves learning… Reading the Bible at night adds to the benefits mentioned above, the fact that we can grow spiritually, think about our loved ones, comfort ourselves, know ourselves better and connect better with Jesus.
Complementing our words, we leave here some tips on how to read the Bible, among which is the best time to read it. Enjoy it!
And to say goodbye, we want to remind again that the important thing is not how to read the Bible. or at what time of the day we choose to do so, but to set aside time/space to be able to talk to God, open our hearts and enjoy the teachings of Jesus. We hope that you have enjoyed the reading and that your doubts about how to read the Bible have been resolved. See you in the next articles!