Bible Reading Helps

Why should you read the Bible?

Bishop JC Ryle in his book practical religion gives 8 reasons:

I. In the first place, “there is no book in existence written in such a manner as the Bible.”

II. In the second place, “there is no knowledge absolutely needful to a man’s salvation, except a knowledge of the things which are to be found in the Bible.”

III. In the third place, “no book in existence contains such important matter as the Bible.”

IV. In the fourth place, “no book in existence has produced such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible.”

V. In the fifth place, “no book in existence can do so much for every one who reads it with an open heart, as the Bible.”

VI. In the sixth place, “the Bible is the only standard by which all questions of doctrine or of duty can be tested.”

VII. In the seventh place, “the Bible is the book which all true servants of God have always lived by and loved.”

VIII. In the last place, “the Bible is the only book which can comfort a man in the last hours of his life.”

Where should I start?

Ryle gives these pointers:

Begin reading your Bible this very day. (get our reading plan here.)
Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand it.
Read the Bible with childlike faith and humility.
Read the Bible in a spirit of obedience and self-application.
Read all the Bible, and read it in an orderly way. (our reading plan helps with this)
Read the Bible with Christ continually in view. (Remember all the Bible is about Jesus!)

“Give your Bible the best and not the worst part of your time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day.”

What if you can read, but don’t want to:

Ryle gives this warning:

You are in danger, because “your neglected Bible is plain evidence that you do not love God.” The health of a man’s body may generally be known by his appetite. The health of a man’s soul may be known by his treatment of the Bible. Now you are manifestly living with a serious disease. Will you not repent?

What if you find reading difficult?

You can listen to the Bible for free here – just chose a passage and then click on the little speaker icon in the top left corner. Or else you can buy an app with David Suchet reading the entire Bible for iPhone here for just over 20Euro. There’s other ones available at Christian Audio and at Audible.

If you have a smartphone or tablet, why not download the Bible onto your phone? You can download this app from Olive Tree for free here. Then sign in and create an account to download free Bible reading plans to take you through the Bible.

You can get all of these resources from the Good Book Company here.

Get this great children’s Bible here.

Get Adult Bible reading notes here. You can get a free sample here.

or download the app here.

Get Bible Study notes for teenagers here.

Here's a great resource for reading the Bible together as a family, you can get it here. This one covers the whole of the Old Testament and is great for children over 4 years old, sometimes it's hard going, but on the whole it's excellent, and even … — Here’s a great resource for reading the Bible together as a family, you can get it here. This one covers the whole of the Old Testament and is great for children over 4 years old, sometimes it’s hard going, but on the whole it’s excellent, and even as a parent you’ll find yourself learning things you never knew before! There’s also one on the New Testament that you can get here. Please ask Nick if you’d like to have a look at a copy or find out how to make best use of it.

But I’m too busy…

George Muller founded 5 orphanages and cared for over 10,000 orphans. That’s a busy man, and yet he found time to read his Bible! In fact it was his Bible reading that motivated him. Here’s what he said about the importance of Bible reading:

“Now…I would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as to the way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. It is absolutely needful…we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively, and not pick out here and there a chapter. If we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. I tell you so affectionately. For the first four years after my conversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But when I regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more”

And here’s a couple of daily reading websites, one for men and one for women, http://hereadstruth.com/

http://shereadstruth.com/