Get To Know Your Bible
Christians can’t really get better at their faith if they don’t know what the Bible says.
what God wants and expects from us, what promises he has made to us, how to share our faith, how to act in the world and in the church, and how important and powerful prayer and worship are in our lives.
It’s not like (most of us) would try to put together a child’s bike or IKEA furniture without first reading the rules. So why would we even think about living a Christian life without the Bible to teach us how?
Read and Learn More Memorize Bible Scripture and Verses Quickly and Easily
No, this doesn’t mean you need to learn the Bible by heart, but you should know what it says. Remember that you shouldn’t worry about memorising verses until you know your Bible well.
But what does that mean? What does it mean to be familiar with the Bible? It means you:
- Can find the different books of the Bible with ease and without having to refer to the table of contents (using the finger tabs is ‘fair’)
- Know the differences between the Old and New Testaments and their significance historically, prophetically, and doctrinally
- Understand the relationship between God and the Israelites and God and the Gentiles
- Understand how and why the Law of Moses is no longer applicable
- Know what is necessary to accept the gift of salvation according to the scriptures rather than man
- Be able to tell the most fundamental Bible stories
- Be able to back up why you believe what you believe with scripture references
As you read through that list, how many of these things do you feel confident about? If someone came to you asking you what the Bible has to say about.
Would you be able to answer them and prove your answers by showing them scriptures that validate what you have said? Or would you be able to use a concordance or Bible dictionary to locate verses to do so?
I’ll say it again—this is not meant to be a guilt trip. It’s meant to be a wake-up call; one that ignites in you a desire to know God’s Word more deeply in order that you might live it more fully and share it with others.
And don’t worry-no one, not even God, expects you to do this overnight or to do it on your own. But you’ve got to start somewhere, so as the saying goes…”there’s no time like the present”.
Start here
Becoming familiar with your Bible requires you to:
- Have a Bible
- Read your Bible
- Have an attitude that wants to learn
- Have someone you can go to for help and answers to questions you have your preacher, Bible school teacher, or a friend or family member who is more mature in their faith
- Highlighters to mark key verses in your Bible
- Notecards, a journal, or Post-it notes
Start Small
Do not think you need to do everything at once. Make it a habit to read your Bible every day for about fifteen minutes. I believe you should read either Psalms, Matthew, or James.
Don’t be afraid to mark or underline verses that stand out to you as you read. Then, write down on a different piece of paper where those verses can be found.
Additionally, don’t forget to write down any questions you have about the Bible or what you read. You can also find a lot of things that can help you understand the Bible better.
Some of the things that will help you are a dictionary, maps of the Middle East that show where places are, books, and websites that tell you when and why each book of the Bible was written.
Look back at the list of lines you’ve marked and written down after two weeks of reading. You can pick one or two that are especially important to you. This is the first set of lines you are going to learn. You can do this, trust me!