Read The Entire Bible

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.  1 Timothy 4:13 NASB

And now, here we are today and we have printed Bibles and electronic Bible apps at our fingertips. In fact, many of us have various Bibles in our homes and maybe even one or two different Bible translations on our phones and computers. 

However you choose to meet with God in His word, remember a simple rule- read your Bible . . .. It sounds too simple, right? Here’s the thing: it is simple . . . and it should be! It’s simple but significant, and it needs to be said. Read your Bible! There is no other book that even comes close to it. 

It should go without saying just how important this is as we seek to understand and apply God’s will to our lives and grow more and more like Jesus.

And remember too that the goal behind reading the Bible is to be with God. So consume big chunks of the Bible, try a few chapters at a time—for practicality, let’s say 2-3 chapters a day—Why? Because when we do this, we are allowing the entirety of God’s work of redemption to pass before our eyes, enter into our minds, and permeate our hearts. 

Luke 24:27 TPT  Then He carefully unveiled to them the revelation of Himself throughout the Scripture. He started from the beginning and explained the writings of Moses and all the prophets, showing how they wrote of Him and revealed the truth about Himself.

Did you see that? Jesus showed His disciples—and in turn us—how the entirety of the Bible points to Him and speaks of Him. He showed them and shows us His gospel in the Bible.  He points out all the moments of foreshadowing and the many times He appeared to His people before coming and also how He performed miracles.

Jesus opened the hearts and minds of His disciples so they could truly understand His Word and in turn understand who He was, His work, and their purpose; and He did it through the teaching, reading and revelation of all of Scripture. 

Psalms 119:9-16 NASB How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.

Now, here’s the coolest part: There was a time, when only the Old Testament spoke of Him, pointed to Him, and foreshadowed Him. Now, we have the Gospels, we have Acts, and we have the letters of the apostles. Today, we can see how all of the Old Testament points to the work of Christ, and we can see how the rest of the New Testament points back to the work of Christ. 

So by reading the entirety of the Bible, then parts of it, then front to back again, we can see how ALL OF HISTORY, HUMANITY, AND THE WORLD point to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and King! Phew. It leaves me breathless. 

When we prayerfully consume the fullness of God’s Word, allowing it to pass through our hearts, minds, and eyes, we’ll experience a new level of appreciation, gratitude, devotion, and a deeper, richer love for Him. 

Check this out: It only takes the average person around 70 hours to read through the entirety of the Bible. That works out to about 15 minutes per day. Think about that; by dedicating only a quarter of an hour per day, you can read through the entire Bible in less than a year!