Reading the Bible
How can I begin reading the Bible?
Pray! As you begin to read, ask God to give you a listening spirit. Start out expectantly and prayerfully, and you will never be disappointed.
Recognise your needs! The writings in the Bible touch life at every point. They meet all problems. The Bible gives peace, comfort, hope and help you can get nowhere else. It reveals your sins, but it also reveals the Gospel, the power of God that works forgiveness of sins to everyone who believes in Jesus.
How often should I read the Bible?
Make a decision to read your Bible daily. Bible reading is a practice that belongs to every Christian's pattern of living. God says, "study", "meditate day and night", "continue in my word", "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly".
Select one or two periods each day that are best suited for private reading, and guard against allowing interruptions or postponements.
Read a Bible verse at the breakfast table, as you go to work, or before you begin your tasks, letting that verse accompany you throughout the day. Give God time to speak to you each day.
How can I read the Bible and benefit from it?
Martin Luther once offered some good advice to Peter his barber. Peter asked Martin how he, an ordinary kind of guy, could read the Bible profitably.
This is how Martin Luther answered.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does God tell me here?
- What makes me glad
- What makes me sad?
- What do I want to pray for?
Try it in your personal daily Bible reading, with a short prayer before and afterwards.
What part of the Bible should I start reading?
There are many different ways to start reading the Bible. You can simply read through a specific book, say, Genesis . . . or the Gospel of Mark or Luke . . . or Psalms. You might consider one of the many reading calendars available, which set an appropriate text for each day.
Get into it any way you can!
Here is one specific suggestion: reading through all or half of the Bible in a year.
The Old Testament and New Testament reading guides mentioned in this section use this approach. There is a suggested short reading and a thought starter for each day. If you missed out on the start of the year, don't worry. Simply begin with the current date; then go back and read the beginning. It may be helpful to print out each month’s list and check it off as it’s completed.
Read expectantly, and you can be sure God will help you.
Is the Old Testament still important today?
The Lutheran Church has always held that the Old Testament, together with the New Testament, is the inspired Word of God, authoritative for all people in all places and times. It claims that the Old Testament has relevance for our generation and time and for those yet to come.
Lutherans, and others, use it in worship. Some of the best hymns and prayers (especially the psalms) come from the Old Testament. The joys, worries, disasters and celebrations of the people of God are mirrored in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament also teaches us to have a deep concern for other peoples, races and the environment in which we live. Disobedience of God's wish for an orderly world inevitably brings with it social, political and environmental catastrophes.
As the Old Testament looked forward to what was still to come, it told of God's unchanging will for all creatures. The over-riding theme is the good news that God wants to forgive and save all people when they come to him in repentance and faith.
The Old Testament proclaims that there is only one God to the exclusion of all other gods. It describes how God saved Israel through the exodus and clearly points to his coming in Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament clearly shows that the human beings are made in God's image and though fallen, still retain divine dignity that must be respected and loved.
If we neglect the Old Testament today, we miss much that is vitally important!
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