How to read the Bible and enjoy it.
Reading the Bible is for many of a chore we do because we know it is good for us, what we should do. Much like when people eat their spinach, iron tablets or go for a morning jog, not for the sheer job of it, but because they understand the benefits that come with doing it. This in itself is not a bad thing. There are many good things we don’t necessarily enjoy but from with we obtain benefits that certainly outweigh the pains and inconvenience of doing something you don’t find especially fun.
With many activities there is not much you can do but bite the bullet and get done what has to done. For instance no matter how hard we try most of us won’t ever find hidden sources of joy in cleaning toilets, but alas, we can’t stop cleaning them just because of that. The Bible is different though. You can enjoy reading the Bible and reap the benefits of doing so. It can’t be like eating vitamins flavored like candy, fun and healthy.
This is not likely to happen if you simply start ranting out words from a random portion of the Bible. If you are an avid student of the Bible you can get joy out of all sections of the Bible, whether it is a list of kings, laws or the life of Jesus. However most of us aren’t natural students and need a more subtle approach in order to enjoy reading the Bible.
1) To start with, make it easy on yourself. Find a passage you enjoy or think you will enjoy. I personally started my Bible reading routine with Acts. It is an action packed book that gives great insight in the early century Christians before the apostasy that followed the death of the apostles.
2) Take it easy, enjoy your reading. You cannot enjoy your Bible reading if it is simply a process of turning pages to earn bragging rights or simply for the sense of purpose of reading the entire Bible. Savour it like you would savor a 184 year old bottle of Champagne. This occurred last month when an elite group of wine tasters uncorked a 184 year old bottle of Perrier-Jouet that was bottled just 10 years after the battle at Waterloo. Those in attendance talk about a reverential silence, and you can bet your last dollar nobody just wolfed the whole glass down, they tasted, savored it, enjoyed it. The Bible is better than a 184 year old type of Wine, it is better than a 3,500 year old wine, it deserves our time and appreciation.
3) Don’t only read it, study it. When you read, ask yourself what it means to you individually, what you can learn from it. Check any words you don’t understand, read it with an understanding of the historical and social context of the time in mind. Check references, Bible Studies and commentaries. Become a Bible student that enjoys not endures what he / she studies.
The Bible, the oldest modern book.
There are few books that can claim to be as old as the Bible. Among those that can are:
- The I Ching from the 13th century BCE
- The Papyrus Ebers is the oldest medical text in history, dated around the middle of the 16th century BC
- The Epic of Gilgamesh has been dated between 2100 and 2000 BCE
- Dated even further back are the precepts of Ptah-hotep, which some claim to have been written between 2300 and 2150 BCE.
The starting date of the Bible is an issue of hot debate. Probably the oldest (and correct one in my opinion) starting date for Genesis is the 16th century BCE. However the interesting thing about the Bible is not only its ancient origins but the fact that billions of people read it and respect today.
Nevertheless the real question might be if the Bible is still a useful book today, 3,500 years after it began to be written. Many would say no. You wouldn’t trust a chemistry textbook from 1920 as your basis to conduct an experiment today, would you? Or more to the point you wouldn’t roll out the Ebers Papyrus to read how to treat an open wound. Interestingly if you were to, you would be advised to make an interesting ointment with a base of human excrement. Apparently Egyptians thought it did wonders in the treatment of open wounds. Following this line of reasoning you might conclude that it would be just as illogical to use the writings of the Bible to plan out your life, decide on moral principles and base your hope for the future.
Although the Bible is old, it is by no means old fashioned. Although the world has changed since the first words in it were penned, people haven’t really changed. They have pretty much the same worries, problems and moral dilemmas.
In fact the Bible provides timeless principles that can help us in all walks of life. This article will mention only a few to give a taste of the wide spectrum of themes the Bible covers.
Marriage: “Husbands ought to be loving their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no man ever hated his own flesh; but he feeds and cherishes it”. Ephesians 5:28, 29. Simple advice like this would solve abuse within marriages the world around, if only it was followed.
Racism: Although the Bible has been misused as a basis for racism, the truth is that it condemns it. The Bible talks about only one race, the human race and encourages us to imitate God who: “is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34,35.
Mental Health: Current scientific studies have established a link between a person’s physical health and traits like anger. Dr Redford Williams in his book Anger Kills explains: “Most of the available evidence suggests that hostile people are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease (as well as other illnesses) for a variety of reasons, including reduced social support, increased biologic reactivity [...]”
Thousands of years before such studies the Bible set in simple terms: “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism, but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30; 17:22)
These are just a few of many examples that prove the Bible, maybe not as the oldest book, but definitely the oldest modern book in the World.