Enhance Your Daily Bible Reading With These Two Tips!

Hello Friends!! Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Today I want to share two ways to get more out of your daily Bible reading! Both of these I've greatly benefited from and am so excited to share with you! 

If you're like me, it is so easy to get stuck in a rut and find yourself reading the same passages again and again and again; or find yourself not even excited to read the Bible! Maybe you haven't experienced either of those, but you wouldn't mind changing up your normal routine. Either way, I hope you find something that is of benefit for you!

  Before I share the tips with you though, I do want to mention: if you are wanting to be more excited to read God's Word; ask God to give you excitement for it! To be honest, I'm not always in the best state of mind to read the Bible, but I always pray before I read that I will glean something from my time in the word, and because I pray for that - I know I will.

Without further ado; here are my two tips to get more out your Bible reading:

1) Read the Bible contextually 

Did you know that the Bible was written without chapter and verse markings? Up until the 16th century, the Bible was read just as it was written; like a letter. 

But in the 13th century, English cleric Stephen Langton, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, added the chapter divisions to the Bible. 

  300 years after that, renowned French printer-scholar Robert Estienne, wanting to popularize Bible study, realized how valuable it would be to have a uniform system of both numbered chapters and numbered verses; so he did so. And that is how the Bible is printed and read today!

  

  So why read the Bible contextually? God didn't write the Bible in chapters and verses, so if we read it that way, we miss out on a lot of themes, illustrations, and commonalities that show up when we read it straight through.

  For example, I purposed for the month of November to read straight through the book of 1 Thessalonians every day. That's 5 chapters all at once. And it has been so good! 

Passages started to make more sense, I've noticed different themes surface, and common verses start to mean more in the context of the whole book. Try it and see if it doesn't change the way you read the Bible! 

Context: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning

2) Read Through The Entire Bible In 1 Year

Yes you can! Our family has read through the entire Bible in a year for 13 years now and has never missed a day! I don't say that pridefully, but to encourage you that it is more than possible! 

Did you know most Christians haven't even read through the entire Bible? It's sad we haven't put more emphasis on the very words of God! 

  Now of course reading through Lamentations, or Numbers, or Leviticus isn't that interesting and even I struggle with paying attention. But I can tell you that there is always something to glean and something to appreciate when the Bible is read! Besides, if God thought is was important enough to include in the Bible; it is important enough to read, right?

  If you're not sure about the value of reading the Old Testament; here's something else to remember: the early Christians didn't have the New Testament! All they had was the Old Testament and they found enough in there to carry them through their life. 

Also the New Testament writers reference the Old Testament quite a few times and if you're familiar with the Old Testament; it's always exiting to be reading a passage in 1 Peter and recognize an Isaiah reference!  

So my friends, I pray that this is helpful to you as you grow in your walk with the Lord through the reading of His Word! These certainly aren't the only ways to enhance your daily Bible reading, but I have benefited from applying them and hope that you try it! And remember prayer for a deeper understanding is always a good thing :)

Love, Holly