Getting Started
- I’d like to be reading the Bible seriously, you say, but how and where do I start? First, get a Bible for yourself if you don’t have one. Probably the most widely used modern translation right now is the New International Version (NIV). You can’t go wrong with that. If you want a more colloquial paraphrase translation, you might like to secure Eugene Peterson’s The Message.
- Then we would like to recommend securing Scripture Union or other Bible reading notes. They come in different levels of notes geared for different age groups.
- Finally, make a resolution right now that you will read a portion of the Bible each day, preferably in the morning and evening. Know yourself. If you are a morning person, content yourself with something briefer in the evenings as one is usually too tired to absorb very much. If you are an evening person, content yourself with something briefer in the morning as you will not be awake enough to absorb very much.
Of course, once we have understood what the text is saying and not only what it meant in the original context but what it means for us today, then the challenge is to try and obey it and live it out.