The English term bible comes from the Gk biblia, which means books. The bible is literally the books . . . and this is a good title for it, because it is comprised of 66 different books! The individual verses of the bible are what we call scriptures, which means writings. However, when we use the terms bible and scripture, we are not simply speaking of any books or any writings . . . these terms have come to refer to the sacred book containing the sacred writings that are the foundation of the Christian faith. This is what we mean when we speak of the bible, or the Scriptures.
The bible was not written in one sitting; in fact, the Bible was written by about 40 different authors over a period of about 1500 years! The bible contains a diversity of different literary types. Some of the books are historical, some of the books are poetic, some of the books are prophetic, and some of the books contain teachings. What unites them all is what we call the inspiration of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is God-breathed . . . meaning that Scripture came into being as God breathed upon ordinary men, inspiring them to do a very extraordinary thing: they wrote the very words of God! That is what the bible is: the word of God!
If I were to give the bible a name, I would call it the History of God’s love. Its writings tell us the story of how God has demonstrated his love on the stage of human history from the creation of the world to the end of the age.
Jesus is the central figure in the story of the bible. The story of his life, death, and resurrection are the central features of the bible as a whole. He is the interpretive key to the whole story! That means that wherever you are in the bible, whatever you are reading, you should look for Jesus! If you are reading the Old Testament, you should look to see Jesus prefigured. If you are reading the NT you should see Jesus revealed. Jesus is what the bible is all about!
If you’ve really never read the bible, the task of reading it may seem daunting. Let me make it easy for you: start with the story of Jesus . . . start at the heart of the book. Then, once you’ve got a good handle on who Jesus is and what he did for you, you can venture out and study the rest of the book piece by piece.
I find that the best way to start if you’ve never read the bible before is to begin with the Book of Mark. Understand that Matthew, Mark, Luke & John are all going to tell you the same story from different perspectives. But they write for different audiences and have different styles. Mark’s style is the easiest for new bible readers to grasp because he wastes no time getting right to the meat of the ministry of Jesus.
But you’ll have to go to Matthew and Luke to read about the birth of Christ, because Mark starts with his ministry.
One of the most important verses of the Bible for you to know is John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If you get nothing else from reading the bible, get this: God loves you so much that he sent his Son Jesus to die for you. You may not understand why, but its true! He loved you, he sent his Son for you, and he’s coming again for you. That’s the bible in a nutshell!
But I want you to have more than the nutshell; I want you to have the meat! In order to get that, you’ll need to establish a daily habit of consuming God’s word.
Having a Daily Bible Quiet Time
- Write the date at the top of a new page in your journal
- Write a one to two-sentence prayer at the top. Say whatever you want to say in that prayer.
- Read one chapter of Scripture (beginning with the book of Mark, if you’re new to Scripture).
- Choose one verse from that chapter that sticks out for you and write it out under your prayer.
- Repeat that verse 4 times in your mind, 4 times out loud, and then 8 times by memory, if you can.
- Write a one to two-sentence prayer using the words of that verse.
