With so many ideas and opinions on how to read the Bible, it can sure be a daunting task. After all, it’s a great, big Book written over a couple thousand years by forty authors covering 3237 different people. Talk about potential to be confusing.

With all this potential Bible confusion in mind, let’s talk about how you would want to read any other great book. I’ll bet that you would enjoy cozying under some soft blankets, nestled in your favorite chair where it’s nice and quiet. To make it even better, you’d have a fresh cup of coffee to keep you company as you start to read. Without knowing how or why, your mind would dive into the story as you attach to the characters and you want to know more!  You simply cannot help yourself as you find yourself reading more.

In the same way a great author draws you into his book, so you get to know the characters, God wants us to fall in love with his story, so we wonder what’s going to happen next! He wants us to put ourselves into the story – imagining what it would have been like to be right there so instead of being bored, we want to know more! We bond with his story, build a relationship with God, and enjoy our time with him!

It’s that simple! Plus when you read any book, you cannot help but learn about the author, and God wants us to know him by reading his Book! He truly wants us to snuggle with him and have fun reading his Word!

And no matter what some people may say, we don’t have to memorize passage x, y or z or know where the book of Amos is located to connect with God and his Word. If a particular passage touches your heart, it’s nice to know where to find it again and commit it to your heart, but you’re not going to gain heaven or merit points with God by knowing what a particular passage says.

If you would like a recommendation of where to start, Luke is rich with meaning as it follows Jesus in his ministry, and it is still easy to understand. Then go to Matthew, Mark and back to Luke again. These books are called the synoptic Gospels – which means they follow a very similar story line of the Good News about Jesus. After you’re familiar with the life of Jesus, the rest of the Bible becomes so much easier to understand because all of it ultimately points to Jesus. Don’t be in a hurry. . . Just hang out, snuggle with Jesus, talk to him, underline and write notes, questions and ideas throughout your Bible.