How to Read the Bible

By Rev. Benjamin P. Glaser - Posted at Mountains and Magnolias:

One of the most common questions I receive as a pastor is, “Rev. Glaser, how do I get the most out of my Bible reading?” It is a question even the apostles themselves wondered. (2 Peter 3:14-18). In this short article we will look at three things that can help you feast upon the meat of the gracious Word of our Triune God.

First of all we must understand that what we are reading is God’s Word. (Heb. 1:1-4, 2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Peter 1:16-21). This may seem obvious or even unnecessary to mention, but part of the problem many of us have is that we, intentionally or not, use the Bible the way we would any other book. We look for pithy statements for a greeting card or a quick verse to simply settle an argument or to find a justification for something either we would like to do or even as a club to stop someone from doing something we may not like. When we humbly present ourselves before the Word as the recipient of the Bible and not as its author, to simply use it how we please, we have a come a long way to rightly using it for both God’s purpose and for our benefit. A good example of this can be seen in 2 Chronicles 29. There King Hezekiah is in the process of rebuilding the Temple. He is careful to only do that which God has commanded to be done in His Word.

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