Should I Read the Bible? What Christians Should Know

(Last Updated On: May 19, 2020)

Wondering Should I read the Bible?

Maybe you’ve never picked one up. Maybe you’ve only skimmed it and never really read it with purpose. Either way, the answer to Should I read the Bible is yes.

If you’re a Christian or wondering about Christianity, nothing will change your faith and life more than reading the Bible.

Reading the Bible daily is the most important habit any believer can have.

It’s so important to read God’s word, deeply and thoroughly, that I say all Christians should be saturated in the Bible.

Becoming deeply saturated in the word changed my relationship with God forever. I spent too many years full of misunderstanding and carrying legalistic burdens because I didn’t have an accurate understanding of the Bible and didn’t really know God for myself.

My superficial relationship with His word had stunted my spiritual growth. I had missed so much of who God is and His messages for us.

It was a process of slowly walking in truth for me.

I used to read my Bible using the flip method. I would pray, flip open my Bible, and stop on a random passage. While the verse was always something useful and almost always related to my circumstances, my knowledge of the scripture through this methodology was pretty limited. Nothing was connecting to anything else.

I wasn’t so much saturated in the word as much as slightly damp.

God’s words are always good words, but just using the random flip method really limited my knowledge to the Bible stories I heard as a child, and verses from sermons at church, and these snippets from my daily reading.

I didn’t even realize how much more there was for me to know.

What happens when you read the whole Bible?

I became more than a cultural Christian.

About six-seven years ago, God grabbed a hold of my heart and helped me understand grace in a way I had never personally grasped. That moment of lightning bolt clarity eventually led to my fervent prayer surrendering all of my life, all my sins, all my desires, all my quirks, everything to God.

And that moment felt like scales falling from my eyes. The world went from black and white to color in a spiritual sense. I was flooded with the Holy Spirit who gave me discernment and wisdom.

Since that moment, I began to study God’s word differently, and that has made ALL the difference.

• Read the WHOLE Bible – At least the first time, start at Genesis and go through Revelation. (It’s really okay if it doesn’t all make sense at first.)
• Follow a reading plan – I use the YouVersion Bible App. They have several great read through the Bible in a year plans. I have tried several and learn something new each time.
• Learn to use complementary guides or inductive studies to help you understand what you’re reading. I’ve personally found historical context commentary especially powerful in understanding the Bible.
• Find some great apps to help – the Blue Letter Bible app is wonderful as a study aide.

In the years since, I’ve read through the Bible nearly six times cover to cover so to speak although I’ve followed several different plans (and only one was in order from Genesis to Revelation).

What happens when you read the Bible everyday?

First, reading the Bible everyday helps you become Biblically literate. You recognize the names and places. The terms become familiar. Books of the Bible become comforting friends.

But the craziest thing happened as I became increasingly Biblically literate, I began to better understand the character of God. I now see how strange Mosaic laws relate to the cross.

When you read the Bible everyday, you begin to understand the character of God.

Even some of the harder passages started to be clear to me. I understand now why God could command violence against some people because I know they were burning infants alive as sacrifices to their gods.

Reading the Bible everyday, I started to see the thread of Christ’s redemption that ties the entire Bible together. And I began to be able to tell the truth from a lie…

When you read the whole Bible, you stop falling for Satan’s lies.

And his lies are hard to spot. They are dipped in chocolate, wrapped in pretty ribbons, masked within the truth. Because the hardest lies to spot are the ones that are almost truths.

Almost true, almost right, almost Christ-like, almost good, almost what that verse means . . .

Is almost good enough?

Would you drink Windex?

It’s over 90% water. Water is good. Water is necessary.

So why wouldn’t you drink Windex?

Because it’s not pure water! It’s mostly water with a little bit of poisonous chemicals. Satan’s lies are just like Windex.

We think Satan’s lies are the big ones, the obvious whoppers, but he’s been doing this a long time. He knows just how to get to us. A lot of good stuff with a little bit of worldly poison.

That is why we must be truly saturated in God’s word.

We have to be able to discern the truth from a lie.

Matthew 10:16 ESV “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Because the lies we believe become splinters separating us from God.

Lies about who God is. Lies about our past. And lies about reality.

When we don’t recognize who God really is and what the Bible really means, we get off course, maybe just a few steps off course at first, but over time even one step off course can become miles off target.

If our target is spending eternity with God, we have to make sure we are on the narrow path.

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

God gave us His Word so that we can know Him. Jesus extensively quoted the Old Testament. He never contradicted what the Old Testament taught, except when He established the new covenant, which replaced the old Mosaic covenant.

The Bible is how we hear from God. The Holy Spirit often brings a verse to mind or directs my thoughts, but He can’t bring to mind a verse I’ve never read.

If we want to know and follow God’s will, we have to read the whole Bible and be saturated in His wisdom.

Being saturated means to be so totally filled that it permeates your very essence.

When you think someone like that, does someone’s face come to mind? Peaceful, Patient, Gentle, Kind, Loving, Faithful. She always exudes peace and joy, no matter her circumstances, even when life is hectic, you never get a sense that she feels frantic or rushed.

I yearn to be that kind of Christian woman who reflects Jesus in every interaction.

If you’re still wondering Should I read my Bible? 

Reading the Bible daily is how can we grow to have that kind of relationship with God.

It starts with being saturated in the word, which is how we begin to truly know God and discern “almost right” from His real truth in the world around us.

Being saturated in God's word isn't just how we know right from wrong. It's how we recognize right from almost right. #ChristianWoman #ChristianBlogger #Godsword #ReadyourBible Click To Tweet

What kind of relationship do you have with your Bible?

I want you to know how to passionately love your Bible and ache to dive into its pages, to long to be saturated in the word.

Are you in that place?

Or is it on a shelf somewhere, dusty from neglect? Maybe it’s sitting at the ready on your nightstand, only to let busy days distract you from reading it. Maybe you spend a few minutes each day reading your Bible, but don’t feel like it’s really making sense.

I challenge you to get into a habit of reading the Bible daily.

Pick a plan and spend a few minutes everyday reading toward the goal of reading the entire Bible. It might take you longer than a year if you stop and deeply study some sections, but have a goal and work towards it.

Even if having a busy day means you only read a verse or two, if you stay on your plan, you’ll find that your understanding and knowledge will grow deeper as you also find over and over the messages of grace, forgiveness, love, and redemption are woven through every part of the Bible.

I’d love to hear how studying God’s word has changed your life!

Let me know in the comments here or on social media!