Yes, you read the title correctly. I said DON’T read through the Bible this year. And as counter intuitive and sacrilege that may sound, understanding this concept could very well revitalize your daily quiet times with God.
Here’s what you need to know, as well as a few alternative ideas worth trying.
Watch the following video or scroll down to read more:
Follow along with all the Bible Memory Goal YouTube videos!
The Story of the Joey’s Encyclopedias
In the US, there’s this popular comedy sitcom called Friends that ran for ten seasons between 1994 and 2004. In one of my favorite episodes, one of the characters named Joey gets approached by a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman.
Obviously this was in the days before Wikipedia, YouTube or the internet made these kinds of printed books basically obsolete.
In this particular episode, Joey, who always feels left out in conversations with his relatively well-educated group of friends, is convinced that reading through the entire set of encyclopedias would solve that problem.
The more immediate issue, however, is that he only has $50 to his name. The entire set of books costs well over $1,000. So instead, the salesman convinces him to only buy the only book he can afford, the “V” book from the volume set.
When Joey gets back together with his friends, it’s hilarious to watch his face as he proudly participates in conversation topic that starts with “V” but then looks in despair as they move on to subjects that inevitably start with the other 25 letters of the alphabet.
Why am I telling you this? How is this related to why you shouldn’t read through the Bible?
Are You Cramming in the Bible?
Well, I think most of us approach our Christian lives trying to read through the A-Z set of encyclopedias as fast as we can. We know we can’t soak in that much information, but we hope that by forcing our way through the entire Bible, either it makes us better Christians or perhaps we’ll now have a more well-rounded understanding of the Bible.
I’m not trying to diminish the benefits of spending daily time in the Bible. This is a valuable habit, and there are great ways to form these kinds of Bible habits that I recommend.
And yes, I do think an understanding of the Bible as a complete picture of God’s story to us is important.
But in the midst of our busy lives, when finding 15-30 minutes of quiet time in a day can feel really hard, how much do you really retain when you’re trying to cram in 5 straight chapters? Or better yet, how can we follow Paul’s words to the Philippians when he tells them to “…not to be anxious about anything…” (Philippians 4:6), when you’re stressed about missing a couple days and having to make up for it with a 2-hour reading session on Saturday?
I challenge you to find somebody whose knowledge and intimacy with God you admire, and ask them their thoughts and advice. Don’t be surprised if they tell you that their daily time with God consists something like this:
- Praying on just a couple verses per day;
- Mediating on a short passage of Scripture;
- Staying on the same verses or Scripture for days or weeks at a time;
It all boils down to this simple idea I want you to consider: read less and meditate more.
Read Through the Bible LESS…Meditate MORE
You’ve probably heard it many times from Psalm 1, where the psalmist speaks of a blessed man who not only delights, or takes pleasure in God’s Word, but specifically meditates on it day and night (Psalm 1:2).
Our English definition of what it means to meditate is to “think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time”. The way this plays out in your life could look different than mine, but the end objective is the same. Delight in God’s Word, meditate on it, not so that we can check a box saying we’ve read the whole book, but so we can become that tree whose roots drink from the deep groundwater that in turn produces excellent fruit.
For me, this practice of meditation includes memorizing extended portions of Scripture, entire books of the Bible. And you know what I’ve noticed from doing this? When I memorize a book, I feel like I own that book.
When I memorize a book of the Bible, I feel like I OWN that book.
What exactly do I mean by that? Well, for example:
- I take it wherever I go (it’s always in my mind);
- I cross reference with it whenever I’m reading through other passages of Scripture;
- I understand it more when I hear preachers teach about it;
- I get excited during those seemingly random, often Holy-Spirit prompted moments, when I can match a specific circumstance or conversation in daily life with a Scripture I’ve memorized.
If you don’t already, I want you to understand that feeling of owning a book of the Bible. To have memorized or meditated on it so much that you’ve internalized it. And that is what I hope you’ll do this year instead of trying to read through the whole Bible.
Read less, meditate more.
How to Meditate on God’s Word
Practically speaking, what are some ways that you can prioritize meditating on God’s Word instead of just trying to read through the Bible as fast as you can?
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Using One of Paul’s Epistles
One way could be as simple as taking one of Paul’s shorter letters (Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, or Titus, for example) and reading it through once a day, every day for a month. Each reading only takes about 10 minutes, even if you do it slowly.
Start by watching one of the Bible Project videos explaining the letter as a whole, and then sit with the book for the entire month, journaling about what you find if you’re a journaling kind of person.
Read SLOWLY Through a Gospel
Perhaps you could walk slowly through one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John)
When I say “slowly”, what I mean is that instead of breaking it up by chapter, you could spend a couple days soaking in each story and miracle individually, trying to visualize all the details of what is happening.
Memorize a Book of the Bible this Year
I know I’m biased when I say this, you could commit to actually memorizing a book of the Bible this year.
Yes, YOU!
I’m not implying that this should entirely replace your daily time in the Word, but I can tell you that meditating isn’t hard when you always have the passage with you and you have incentive to review the passage so you don’t forget it.
If this is a challenge you’re willing to take on, try to find somebody who will do it with you or, if you don’t know anybody, you can sign up for a waitlist to join an online community of believers all around the world who help and encourage each other toward memorizing God’s Word.
Join the Community Wait List!
OWN Your Own Portion of the Bible
I had a good laugh at Joey from that Friends sitcom with his whole encyclopedia fiasco.
But you know what?
He chose one book and he owned it. He knows “V” really well and if we was smart, the next year he would purchase the “W” book and go through that one intentionally. And the next year, another letter. And so on, and so on.
Don’t be content to simply know Scripture.
I challenge you to own it, and in so doing, I promise that you’ll unlock the beautiful treasure that is a greater intimacy with God.
Leave a Reply