To quote the classic Sunday School tune “Read your Bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” If you hang around church for very long, you’ll hear people telling you how important it is to read your Bible every day. Well, it’s a pretty big book. It can be a little intimidating. I’ll try to answer a few of those important questions about how, exactly, to go about reading your Bible.

Which one should I choose? If you go to your local Christian Book store, you’ll probably see like 8 zillion different versions and editions of the Bible. NIV, KJV, NKJV, AMP, NASV, the Message, Student Edition, Women’s Devotional, Large Print, Thin line… and the list goes on. So, how do you choose the right Bible for you? Look through the different Bibles. Read some of your favorite passages in different versions.

Be sure to choose a version that you understand. The New International Version (NIV), Contemporary English Version (CEV), or New American Standard Version (NASV or NASB) are good versions to start with. Personally, I like to have several different versions on hand to look at the same passage in different versions. The different editions (student edition or women’s edition) usually mean that there will be extra devotional comments (usually in the margins). If you think you’d like something like that, go for it. For my devotions, I like to use a study Bible. It has extra commentary and includes a lot of background information that can help you understand the context of the passage.

If you’re feeling a little too overwhelmed, ask your youth pastor, youth leader, or sponsor to go with you to help you choose the right Bible for you.

Where should I start? Starting at Genesis and working your way through the Bible is great to do at some point in your life, but if you’re just starting to get into reading your Bible, you might run out of steam doing it that way. I think it’s good to read a portion of the Old Testament, a passage from Psalms or Proverbs, and a portion of the New Testament every day. That way, you get a little something from everywhere. Pace yourself. You don’t get a prize for reading the fastest, so take your time. Let it soak in a little bit. Re-read passages. Write down verses that are encouraging or challenging to you.

What does this mean? Some passages in the Bible are a little difficult to understand. This is when it can be really helpful to use a study Bible. When looking at a difficult passage, I like to ask three questions. The first question I ask is what did it mean then? Take a look at the cultural context of the passage. Use your study Bible or ask a pastor or leader to determine what the original author meant when the passage was written and how the original readers understood the author. The next question I like to ask is what does it mean now? Once you understand what it meant to the original audience, it can be a lot easier to understand what the passage means in the United States in 2008. The last question I like to ask is how can I apply this to my life today? Once you understand what it meant then and what it means now, think about what it means in your life. Is there something that you need to change or do differently? Does it change the way you think about other people? Does it change the way you view God?

Hopefully, this will help you start to read your Bible every day so you can grow, grow, grow. Give some of these ideas a try and let me know how it goes!