You heard me.

Put down your daily Bible reading guide.

Un-bookmark that “read the Bible in a year” website (bookmark this one instead!).

Reading the Bible is like reading a math book. Sure it can be done, but what are you really gaining? Look at it this way, for those of you reading this who have gone through those “read the Bible in a year” courses, let me ask you a question. How much do you know about Mahershalalhashbaz? Don’t look it up. Don’t flip through and try and find the name. Don’t wait for the translation; answer me now!

The problem with reading the Bible is you treat the Bible like a story book. And while there are some incredibly interesting events that are recorded, the Bible is not a story. It is a collection of 66 sometimes-very different individual writings. On one page you may find doctrine and on another page a song. Some books are historical, some are poetic; some books are biographical, and some are prophetic. You can’t just open Genesis 1 and end at Revelation 22 and expect to have picked up more than what you already knew going in.

No: Instead of reading the Bible, let’s STUDY the Bible.

Paul wrote to Timothy:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

oldbible2

Now first of all, the word “study” here actually means “to give great effort.” In other words, Paul wants Timothy to put forth maximum effort to ensure that he is living as God expects, as a workman who will not be ashamed of the work he has done. But then Paul tells Timothy how to do that: “rightly dividing the word of Truth.”

The words “rightly dividing” mean “to handle correctly.” Now how do we know that? How did we know what the word “study” meant?

Because you can study and learn it.

I could read the words a thousand times but if I don’t know what they mean, they’re just going to be staring back at me. I have to study to learn what they mean. The only way to put an end to religious division and the binding of opinions is to go back to the Bible, dive into the text and study diligently the inspired words that are to guide our lives. Stop reading your Bible and start studying it!

Have a great day!