Bible 101: The First Date (with your Bible)
You picked out a Bible, so now what?
Let’s get down to brass tacks.
(Did you know it’s tacks and not tax? This whole time I thought it was a tax on brass. How do I have a doctorate and not know this until 2023? It’s fine. I’m fine.)
The biggest question I get, other than what Bible to buy, is how to figure out where to start reading.
Listen, I get it.
You could do the ol’ flip and point technique that middle schoolers live by, but you will lack context and get bored, confused and annoyed.
You could do a “read the Bible in a year’ situation, but you will more than likely also lack context and get bored, confused and annoyed.
Quick Metaphor That You Didn’t Ask For from the Rev. Dr.: I find it easiest to think of reading the Bible like a date. Don’t make it weird - it’s really simple. You need to pick a time and place, you need to give yourself freedom to leave whenever or stay however long you want, and you need to be prepared to listen and ask questions.
TIP #1 SET A DATE
If you are a morning person, choose the morning. Props to you.
If you would rather read during your lunch break, go for it.
If you are a night owl, perhaps reading before bedtime would behoove you.
It doesn’t matter when you read. It could be an audiobook version on your way to work. It could be someone shout-reading through the door at you while you shower. It could even be opening the Bible while you do dishes.
It. Doesn’t. Matter.
You need to set a time.
As a practical example, I am not a morning person and I do not want to read the Bible right before I sleep. I have tried the whole “waking up at 4 am” to pray and read thing, but that lifestyle ain’t for me. My brain doesn’t compute before 10 AM and that is a solid fact. Personally, I read after lunch and make myself a coffee to accompany the occasion. I make it fun. Coffee makes things fun and exciting. May be the caffeine. May be Jesus. Hard to say.
Set. A. Time.
TIP #2 DON’T GIVE YOURSELF A CURFEW.
The Rev. Dr.’s Do Not’s:
Do not tell yourself to read for an extended period of time.
Do not tell yourself you are going to read an entire book in two days, or even by the end of the week.
Do not tell yourself you are going to read the Bible in a year.
Do not, and this is important, DO NOT make it an obligation.
No deadlines. Stop with the deadlines. When is the last time you were reading a book for fun, like a fiction book or a history book, and told yourself you were going to start the book on Monday and finish it by Wednesday? (Hint: you have never said that outside of education.) I understand the allure of finishing the entire book of Genesis in two days, BUT 9 times out of 10, you’re going to read 5 chapters and give up.
This is not corporate America. You don’t have to impress your boss. This is the Bible. God is going to be impressed that you are even considering opening the Bible. You get extra brownie points when you do read it. Bottom line, when you give yourself a restricted period of time, you are more likely to drop out than see it accomplished.
You just set a time in which to read, now you need to set apart a chunk of time to read.
I recommend starting with 2 minute increments, and read for that portion of time. Habits are more easily formed if you give yourself grace. 2 minutes, 120 seconds, of reading the Bible is a lot less daunting than any other amount of time. Most of the time, you will end up reading more, BUT, set a timer for 2 minutes and watch it become kind of easy.
TIP #3 FIND A PLACE TO READ AND A PLACE TO START READING
You have figured out when you are going to read, and you have decided how long you are going to read (seriously, try setting a timer for 2 minutes), now you need to find a place to read.
Pick a place where you are both comfortable and able to read without falling asleep. I never read in bed for that reason. I read at my kitchen table or in my office. Just pick a place and make that your very own special designated reading nook.
Now, the tough part: where to start reading.
You need to first consider why you want to read and what you want to understand better.
If you just said to yourself “I want to read because I want to know God and I want to understand God better,” try again.
You need to be specific.
Are you going through something right now where you need inspiration? Maybe you should start with Psalms and Romans.
Are you wanting to understand the history of the Bible better?
Maybe you should start from the beginning and go Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, etc.
Are you wanting to know more about Jesus?
Maybe you should start with the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and then go through the rest of the New Testament.
“Wow, that seems specific. How am I suppose to know where to start if someone doesn’t tell me?”
Reader, it is specific. Each book of the Bible serves a purpose in our lives today. Consider this, you aren’t about to read Revelation when you are feeling sad. You are not going to pick Leviticus when you are having a fun and joyous day. You need to pick the books accordingly.
Below I have listed all 66 books with their themes in specific groupings, but also their individual themes. I recommend that if one stands out to you or sounds interesting, start there. Make a top ten list of books that peak your interest and go one by one.
You do not need to read in order. Once you feel comfortable reading the Bible, you can read chronologically, but until then, you need the Bible to feel easy and appealing, which means reading what you want to read.
MY SUMMARIES:
Old Testament: God Establishes His Covenant, otherwise known as the history portion
Genesis - creation of everything, including Israel (the Bible is based around Israel, so this matters)
Exodus - God rescues His people from slavery and gives them the promise of a relationship, also crazy plagues
Leviticus - God gives His people instructions on how to get the most out of the relationship, a.k.a the longest and most specific list of rules you’ll ever see
Numbers - God’s people can’t follow GPS directions (or common sense) and keep missing the exits to the Promised Land
Deuteronomy - Recap of the previous three books, plus a little extra
Old Testament: God Working Through Events and Outcomes, otherwise known as narrative literature
Joshua - the main character conquers the Promised Land and gives that land to the tribes of Israel (there are 12)
Judges - Israel gets into a nasty cycle and God sends “judges” to lead them out of the cycle
Ruth - Two women lose everything and find hope
1 & 2 Samuel - Israel wants a king, that king sucks so David takes over and makes both good and incredibly questionable decisions
1 & 2 Kings - David’s son Solomon is a great king, until the kingdom is split and leaves God behind, which leads the two split kingdoms into being captured by other empires
1 & 2 Chronicles - a retelling of Genesis through 2 Kings, which goes into depth on David wanting to build a temple (God tells David no, God tells Solomon to build it instead, but inevitably it gets captured and subsequently destroyed. Bummer.)
Ezra - Israel rebuilds said temple and a man named Ezra tries to teach people how to keep their crap together
Nehemiah - the main character builds a wall around Jerusalem
Esther - Israel is in trouble, a random woman saves the day by asking for help (which takes some big kahunas, if you catch my drift)
Old Testament: God’s Wisdom and Kingship, otherwise known as wisdom and the musical portion
Job - God allows Satan to attack a man and a lengthy conversation about why ensues between Job and his friends (his friends kind of suck)
Psalms - the ultimate worship playlist
Proverbs - the ultimate self-help book
Ecclesiastes - a depressed person’s exploration of the meaning of life (which is depressing)
Song of Solomon - Kenny G mixed with Michael Bolton, what I like to dub as the most uncomfortable book in the Bible, and possibly in all of existence
Old Testament: God’s Plan Announced Through the Prophets, otherwise known as the prophets
Isaiah - a prophet warns Israel of judgement and also talks of a Messiah (…..bet you can’t guess who the Messiah is!!!!! Spoiler: it’s Jesus.)
Jeremiah - a prophet who warns Israel AGAIN and they really don’t take it well
Lamentations - a eulogy on Jerusalem’s fall (they were attacked by the Babylonians, a historical fact)
Ezekiel - a man talks on behalf of God to tell them they are really sucking and need to do better
Daniel - a “nobody” becomes a wise man to some big people and has visions about Israel, also has three friends who survive an attempted homicide by burning
Hosea - God’s relationship with Israel portrayed through a man being told to marry a prostitute, a.k.a. the OG Comedy Central roast
Joel - God sends judgement to Israel and warns who will be His next victim (an intense threat)
Amos - a shepherd gets passionate about preaching against injustice
Obadiah - a guy warns the nation of Edom of God’s judgement for hurting Jerusalem
Jonah - a disobedient guy disobeys so intensely that he is swallowed by a giant fish and proceeds to warn the city of Ninevah of God’s judgement, then gets mad that the city listens and changes their ways
Micah - a man confronts some big wigs about how they suck and prophesies that God will one day take over their jobs
Nahum - a guy talks about Ninevah’s coming judgement again because the guy who got swallowed by the giant fish apparently didn’t do the best job at relaying the message
Habukkuk - a shocking book of God’s wrath
Zephaniah - God will Judge Israel and other nations….. but will also bring peace *phew*
Haggai - Haggai convinces people to finish fixing up the temple in Jerusalem
Zechariah - a prophet tells Israel to turn back to God and has visions about it
Malachi - God sends a man to call Israel out on their crap
New Testament: Accounts of Jesus and the Church, also known as the Gospels and Acts
Note: all four Gospels have similar tellings, but are different in many ways
Matthew - all about Jesus, focuses on Him being the true King of the Jews
Mark - all about Jesus, focuses on His authority and servanthood
Luke - all about Jesus, focuses on the nitty-gritty details
John - all about Jesus, focuses on the signs and miracles of Him
Acts - Jesus goes back to hang out with the Father, the Holy Spirit descends and the Gospel begins to spread
New Testament: Messages for the Church, also known as the Letters from the Saints
Romans - Paul explains Jesus and His mission to the churches in Rome
1 & 2 Corinthians - Paul writes a couple scathing letters to the church in Corinth and tells them to get their crap together
Galatians - Paul writes to the Galatian churches that the law of Moses does not lead to salvation (relationship with Jesus does)
Ephesians - Paul writes to the church in Ephesus about what the Christian walk should look like
Philippians - Paul writes to the church in Philippi about joy
Colossians - Paul writes to the church at Colossae about their identity in Jesus (ARE YOU SEEING A THEME HERE??)
1 & 2 Thessalonians - Paul writes an encouraging letter to the church in Thessalonica because they are doing a swell job and to stand firm
1 & 2 Timothy - Paul gives his Padawan, Timothy, instructions on how to lead a church and to continue preaching the Gospel
Titus - Paul writes to a man named Titus on how to best lead churches
Philemon - Paul tells Philemon to treat a slave as a brother
Hebrews - a letter encouraging Christians to cling to Jesus, even during persecution
James - James writes a letter to Christians to live boldly, and to show their faith in action
1 & 2 Peter - Peter writes a couple letters to the persecuted Christians to remind them of the truth of Jesus and guard their hearts against false teachers
1, 2 & 3 John - 3 short letters from John to Christians about keeping Jesus’ commandments, to walk in truth and to be in fellowship with each other (community is key, folks)
Jude - a letter to Christians to keep the faith and walk boldly
Revelation - John has a vision about the past, present and the future; most think it is the scariest book, but I argue it is the most interesting
Here’s the thing - if one of these books sounds interesting to you, start with that. If you want to read in order of groups of books (i.e. historical books or the musical portion), do that. Listen to your intuition on what you should read.
Quick Tidbit with the Rev. Dr.: This is another way of basically saying, let the Spirit guide you on what book to read. Listen to the little voice and you’ll read exactly what you need to.
TIP #4 HAVE A PEN HANDY
Don’t over complicate this. Grab a pen and/or a highlighter, and when something stands out to you, underline and/or highlight it.
When something stands out to you, the Word is trying to tell you something. God is trying to communicate with you in a tangible way. Don’t ignore it.
Tangible example, I was reading the Psalms one time and conjunctions were sticking out to me. So, I started underlining (seen below in bold):
Psalm 23: “The Lord is My Shepherd”
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want: He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me for all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Let’s break this down real quick. A conjunction connects words and phrases together. By me being obedient and underlining every conjunction in a Psalm, I saw that:
righteousness is connected to His name and His name only
not fearing death (and not fearing evil) is connected to His presence in my life
both His rod and His staff are comforts, not an either/or situation as both are used for different purposes
the table He has prepared is FOR me, despite any feelings I may have of not being worthy of a seat
God’s goodness AND mercy will follow me
God’s goodness AND mercy will follow me for as long as I live
God’s goodness AND mercy will follow me for as long as I live is connected to dwelling with God forever
Often times, this Psalm in particular is used in funerals or in times of sadness. However, when looking at the verbiage, this Psalm is meant to be used as a reminder of God’s promise to be there for us in times of trouble.
Can you see how this little act of obedience by underlining a few words brought a whole new clarification to an otherwise overused Psalm?
UNDERLINE. HIGHLIGHT. MAKE A NOTE OF WHATEVER STANDS OUT.
The Word is alive and well, and wants you to read.
Don’t waste it by feeling overwhelmed or annoyed.
I believe in you.
Next on Tuesday at noon EST: How to Speak and Understand Christianese. We are going to break down some terms so you have a better idea of what the Bible is talking about.