Reading the Bible:

The Work of Kings

Reading the Bible everyday is God's plan for the leader of His people, the king. I am a leader. God has asked me to lead my life. My family. Some younger men and women. Some small ministry groups. I want to be a good leader. So I better pay attention to this verse.

“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (NIV)

A leader should be a Bible reader.

In The Faith of the American Soldier, Stephen Mansfield writes that President George W. Bush starts his day at 4:30 am with a Bible in his hand. American leaders have been reading the Bible since the beginning of the country. They continue to do so.

“He is to read it all the days of his life”

“It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life...” (Deuteronomy 17:19a, NIV)

Reading speed statistics are easy to find. One source said that an average high school sophomore reads 250 words a minute. Another source reported that the average sixth graders reads 175 words in a minute. Using those numbers, it will take me just over 52 hours to read the entire Bible. If I read as fast as a high school sophomore. If I read as fast as a sixth grader, it will take me about 75 hours.

Either one can easily be done in a year. Fifty-two hours can be done in one hour a week. Less than ten minutes each day. Seventy-five hours can be done in less than an hour and a half a week. Less than 13 minutes each day.

Lack of time is a poor excuse for not reading my Bible!

I had a student who asked me, “What is the best book on leadership you have ever read?” Would you be able to answer that question if someone ask you? Without hesitation, I said, “The Bible.” His countenance dropped. He said he had tried to read it. But, he did not understand it. He preferred to read devotional books about the Bible instead.

Difficult to understand?

That is one of the things that makes the Bible so great! If God doesn't show me what it means, I won't get it. If I do understand something, it means God is working. He is validating my efforts by helping me understand. If I seek Him, I will find Him, when I search for Him with all my heart.

Where is your heart?

If I am willing to pay the price to gain the understanding, then I will be rewarded. Like any spiritual maximizer, I have to develop my Bible reading “muscle.” I have to practice seeing and listening to what the Holy Spirit is trying to reveal to me.

Over the years, I have developed my Bible reading “muscle.” God might show me something in the first verse I read, the first minute, the first chapter, or maybe later. But if I stay with it long enough, God will reveal something personal to me. He has not failed me, yet!

Lack of understanding is a poor excuse for not reading my Bible!

Just Read It!

Reading is just reading. Not studying. Not memorizing. Not listening to it. I am not going to remember everything I read. I am not trying to go real deep. I am snorkeling across the surface, enjoying the view below. I am not scuba diving.

I read my Bible for enjoyment! I think of it like having a conversation with God. He is talking to me like a friend would. I should memorize the Bible. I should study the Bible. I should meditate on it. But those maximizers are discussed else where.

How often should I read it?

I read it as often as I can. More than once a day. I read through it more than one time each year.

I am talking about the number one bestseller of all time. I can read this book over and over again. Each time its like reading it for the first time. Each time, I am different. Each time, God is trying to reveal something new to me.

What version should I read?

Next, I developed an appreciation for the King James Version. I like the poetic flow of the text. I find that it has what I call a "sing song" rhythm. In particular, I like to memorize verses from this version.

Most of the time, I read the NIV Bible. It seems to be the easiest for me to understand. It is written in plain English. I like it and it is still my version of choice when I am challenging people to read the Bible with me. We read together, out loud, from this version.

A friend told me about the chronological Bible. It has the Biblical text in order of when it historically took place. I have read through The One Year Chronological Bible [NIV] several times, often in less than a year. It helps me understand which events in the Bible are taking place at the same time.

Once, I decided to read the entire Bible through in one month, Old and New Testament. I decide to try a new version for this experiment. I chose The New Jerusalem Bible. I had read that this version inserted some of the names of God in their original form. For instance, LORD is the most common translation of the Hebrew YAHWEH in the Old Testament.

In the The New Jerusalem Bible the word YAHWEH is used. Also, the name commonly translated God Almighty is printed as El-Shaddai. While the name commonly translated LORD Almighty is printed as Yahweh Sabaoth. I like reading the names in something close to the original Hebrew. It makes the LORD God seem more personal to me when I am reading.

My plan for reading the Bible through in one month

Right now, I am reading The English Standard Version (ESV) I like the way it closely follows the original Hebrew and Greek. It seems to be at least as accurate as any other version I have read or studied. Yet, it is very readable and flows well.

Ask someone you trust. Pick up a free one from a local church. But start today! If you don't like that version. Select another one, but don't delay!

How should I prepare to read by Bible?

Based on Deuteronomy 17:18-20, here is a list of things I pray before I begin reading.

God,

1. Teach me to fear you as I read the Bible

2. Help me obey your commands.

3. Help me read the Bible every single day.

4. Make me a promise-centered leader.

5. Make me humble.

6. Make me stay on target with my life.

7. Help me walk with You every day until the end of my life.

8. Help me listen to Your voice, not just read a book.

“and the Word was God”

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Think about this verse. The Word was in the beginning. Was with God. Was God. The Word is Jesus! The Bible is the written manifestation of God. When I pick it up and read it, I am reading the living, breathing God of the universe! That gets me excited! It makes me feel incredibly close to God. And being close to God is important to me.

God himself told Joshua that he could “be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you do.” (Joshua 1:9, NIV) Just knowing that the LORD his God was with him was suppose to be sufficient to make Joshua strong and courageous. Being strong and courageous is important to me.

Throughout Biblical history, the importance of the LORD being with some one was significant. And it is no less so today. I need for the LORD to be with me as He was with people in the past!

Do you have your Bible with you right now? Have your Bible and you can have the presence of the LORD with you. And that should give you courage!

“the Book of the Law of God”

Maybe you have never read the Bible on your own. Maybe you read it years ago when you were little or when you had more time. Then there is no time like the present to start again.

After Nehemiah rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem, he wanted to encourage the people. All of them gathered in the square before the Water Gate in Jerusalem and “They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.” (Nehemiah 8:1b, NIV).

“And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.” (Nehemiah 8:3b, NIV) They listened for six hours, from daybreak until noon!

It had been a long time since most of them had read or heard the Book of the Law of God. But intuitively they knew that this Book had the answers to their questions.

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” -- 1 Timothy 4:13, NIV

"I want to read my Bible. Where should I start?"

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Walk Thru the Bible reading program

“How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

“Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible” by Howard Hendricks and William Hendricks

“How to Read a Book” by Mortimer Adler

Back to Word of God page


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First Posted on June 10, 2008

Updated on November 15, 2008