2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:11, Joshua 1:8
The Most Important Book You Are Not Reading
Studies consistently show that the majority of Christians — even those who describe the Bible as the Word of God — rarely read it. The gap between what Christians believe about Scripture and how much they actually engage with it is one of the most significant problems in contemporary Christianity.
This is not merely a personal spiritual problem — it is a discipleship problem. A church full of biblically illiterate Christians is a church without the primary means God uses to shape, correct, and mature His people.
Why Scripture Reading Matters
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The purpose of Scripture is comprehensive formation — not just information but transformation. The person who regularly, attentively reads the Bible is being taught, corrected, shaped, and equipped by God Himself, through His Spirit, through His Word.
Psalm 119 — the longest chapter in the Bible — is a sustained meditation on the preciousness of God's Word. The psalmist treasures it, delights in it, meditates on it day and night. This is the posture of a person who has discovered that Scripture is not a religious duty but a means of encounter with God.
Practical Strategies
Start small and be consistent. Reading a chapter a day consistently will get you through the New Testament in nine months and the whole Bible in three years. Starting with a manageable commitment is better than making an ambitious plan that collapses in February.
Read whole books. The Bible's books were written to be read as wholes, not mined for isolated verses. Reading through a book from beginning to end — even over several sittings — gives a sense of the author's argument and purpose that verse-by-verse reading misses.
Use a reading plan. Structured plans remove the daily decision about what to read and provide accountability. The M'Cheyne plan (reading in four places daily) takes you through the New Testament and Psalms twice and the Old Testament once a year.
Journal responses. Writing a sentence or two about what you read — what struck you, what challenged you, what you are grateful for — deepens engagement and retention.
Pray before you read. A short prayer asking the Spirit to illuminate the text reorients reading from information-gathering to encounter with God.
Dealing With Difficulties
Not every passage is immediately clear or immediately applicable. Honest engagement with difficult passages — the violence of the conquest narratives, the imprecatory psalms, the complex prophecies — is part of mature Bible reading. Resources like commentaries, study Bibles, and good Bible teachers are valuable for navigating difficulty.