Reading Scripture

Dear Follower,

It’s me, Maria. I am so thankful for you and for you seeking to grow in Christ. I pray that a fire will burn inside of you for the Lord, Jesus Christ, and that by the Holy Spirit, I will help in however I can to encourage you and strengthen you for a life worthy of the calling you have received. I write all of this so that you may learn through my struggles, grow in God’s presence, and know that you are not alone. Grace and peace be with you all the days of your life.

Today I’d like to talk to you about reading Scripture. Sometimes it can be quite scary. The Bible has a lot of big and weird words and can be really difficult to understand at times. It can also make you think “What in the world am I reading?!” (especially in the Old Testament), and it can feel like you’re reading an encyclopedia or old history book at times. I often heard pastors/youth directors saying that I needed to read the Bible and that it shouldn’t be something I forgot about/didn’t touch until Sunday morning. I would feel guilty every time they said it each week, but then it would just happen again the next week. Ugh!

As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned that I was never really taught how to read the Bible. I was told to do it, but wasn’t taught how to do it. I don’t have everything figured out, but I have learned a few things here and there and would love to pass along that information to you. So, here is what I’ve learned (about) reading Scripture.

1.) The Bible is one book of 66 books, therefore 1=66. It can feel weird reading the different books, and like they’re not connected if you don’t understand this one Scripture,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

You’ve probably heard this Scripture before, but it really does captivate the whole Bible into one sentence. The Old Testament shows us that God created the world and people who throughout the Bible turned against Him, choosing to love themselves rather than God. Even so, God continued to love them (His people, His creation). Even though these people chose to turn away from God, God gave them His absolute prize possession, His one and only Son, Jesus, because He loved these people so much (even though they didn’t seem to love Him). (Jesus came in the beginning of the New Testament). As we get towards the end of the Bible, we see that if we believe in God, know Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, and in doing so confess our sins to God, we will get to live forever with our God and King in heaven one day. (Revelation (the last book in the Bible) talks about this.) So John 3:16 really does explain the whole Bible in one verse.

Throughout Scripture, we see different characteristics about God. We see that He is patient, forgiving, loving, gracious, powerful, understanding, and cares for His people.

As we read the Bible, we are able to learn from others mistakes and look at situations from a different perspective. We are able to see how even when we choose to not love God, He still wants to have a relationship with us. God is good, and God is love, and if we know and want to be more like Him, we will learn and realize that God’s Son, Jesus, showed us by being a perfect example of how to be. If we want to be more like God, we will work towards being good and being love. We won’t know how to do that and learn about God’s other traits and characteristics that we’re supposed to be like if we don’t read the Bible. 

2.) The Bible is God’s gift to us. We can use the Bible in so many ways. 

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

- 2 Timothy 3:16 

I currently work at a place that requires us to complete a checklist every time we open and every time we close. I’m so thankful for the checklist because I can look at it and know exactly what’s required of me that day. If I didn’t have the checklist, I would often forget things I was supposed to do (even though I’ve been working there for over 9 months), and when I began working there, it helped me to (again) learn and know what’s expected of me.

I often see the Bible like the checklist. There are somethings on the checklist I’m not exactly “thrilled” to do, but I will do (or do my best to do) because I can clearly see it’s the right thing to do. I am thankful for these checklists and the Bible to remind me what to do constantly (every time I read it).

Sometimes we don’t want to read the Bible just because we don’t really want to learn what’s right or what’s expected of us honestly because we don’t want to put forth the effort to do those things. This isn’t right and on the judgement day, god is going to look at all of our sins with us (whether we read the Bible to know what was considered a sin or not).

3) We have to remember/know/realize, that this is a living and breathing word, and therefore, God will speak to us through it. I have heard numerous times people saying they want to hear from God, but 1) they don’t pause to actually listen and 2) they don’t allow God to tell them what they need to hear because they won’t open their Bible! This is so important!

Well, that’s hopefully a little more understanding about Scripture.  

I love you, so much more than you will ever know or realize! I hope you will grow to know and love Scripture in a passionate way. Don’t forget to pray. I love you!

Because of Him,

Maria Garland