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Read the Bible, Why and How? Week 5

Copyright 2007 Wilma Zalabak

Faith Statement: I can read the Bible daily with understanding and joy.

Reasons for reading the Bible

1. We pray and God listens; we read the Bible to listen back at God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Deuteronomy 10:1-5

2. Jesus read the Bible

a. Higher than church leaders, Mark 7:1-20

b. Higher than other opinions, Mark 12:18-27

c. On Sabbath, in church, Luke 4:16

3. The Bible tells of Jesus, John 5:39

4. Bible reading is more important for life than eating, Matthew 4:4

5. Bible reading is the great sin cleaver, Hebrews 4:12

a. Be born again, 1 Peter 1:23-25

b. Partake of divine nature, 2 Peter 1:4

6. There’s a reward in it, Revelation 1:3; 12:11

Obstacles to reading the Bible

1. Never accepted Christ, John 5:39

2. Disobedience, John 7:17

3. Poor motives, 2 Peter 3:15-16

4. Never reading with others, Hebrews 11:25

5. Depending on my own wisdom, Proverbs 3:5-7

6. Human teachings, Mark 7:8-9

Methods of reading the Bible

1. Any environment, any time, can suffice, Isaiah 26:3

2. Daily, choose a consistent place and time, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

3. Pray for the Holy Spirit to interpret, 2 Peter 1:19-21

4. Intentionally memorize, Psalm 119:11

5. Use various translations, Luke 1:1-3 (Luke made another version)

6. Use a pen/marker

a. Underline or highlight parts that touch you

b. Write notes, date, or other related Bible texts in the margin

7. Use a journal or notebook

a. Enter daily events, prayer requests, and answers

b. Just write, in free association, about what you read

c. Outline sentence, section, or book

8. For starters, you can look for these:

a. In Matthew, "compassion"

b. In Mark, "immediately"

c. In Luke, "Sabbath"

d. In John, "see," "sign"

e. Numbers repeated

f. Repeated words or phrases

g. Comparisons among the four Gospels

h. Comparisons between Revelation and Daniel

i. Comparisons between Genesis and Matthew

j. Trace a word, phrase, or passage through all its appearances throughout the Bible

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Response Questions

1. What are some reasons you can think of for sales of the Bible far outstripping top sales on every bestseller list?

2. What is your experience like in reading the Bible?

3. How many different Bible translations have you tried? Which is your favorite?

4. Could you tell of a time when something you read in the Bible actually corrected something you believed or otherwise would have done?

Bible Study Suggestion: Mark 4:1-8; 13-20, Jesus’ story of "The Sower."

1. Who is the Sower and what is the Seed?

2. How many different responses to Bible reading are pictured in this parable?

3. What happened to the Word in the first instance (vs. 4, 15)? What kind of things might make a reader of the Word like the hard-packed earth? What might need to happen in a life to change hard-packed earth?

4. What happened to the Word in the second instance (vs. 5-6; 16-17)? What might the stones represent and how might stones have come to be in the life of a reader of the Word? Name some things the sun might represent. What are the roots that were missing in this instance? What might have to happen in the life of this reader of the Word to get the stones out?

5. What happened to the Word in the third instance (vs. 7, 18-19)? What do the thorns represent? Compare and contrast how and when the stones got in a life with the thorns get in a life. What might have to happen in the life of this reader of the Word to get the thorns out?

6. What happened to the Word in the fourth instance (vs. 8, 20)? What would you say is the difference between merely "hearing" the Word and "receiving" the Word? What does the fruit represent? What might it mean in real life that there’s a difference in how much fruit is produced in different lives?

7. Is there any more you want to say about becoming "good" ground for the reception of the Word?