Here’s the latest question I’ve received: what recomendation do you have on how to study the Bible? I find myself jumping around hoping the Lord will just point me where I should go.

Excellent question!  And what a common problem – I think a lot of believers would have to admit to ‘jumping around’.  Here’s my 2-cents on the subject:

1.  If you haven’t read the entire Bible, I always recommend a thru-the-Bible plan, such as we give out at CLC.  You can also find some great plans here.  From my standpoint, any plan is better than no plan, or as you’ve heard before, “failing to plan is planning to fail”.

2.  Since you asked about study, not just reading, I would probably start with a “Bible survey” type course – that is, one that gives you the big picture of the Bible, from Old Testament to New Testament.  I’ve taught those classes for years, and I still love doing them, because of all the ‘light bulbs’ that go off in people’s heads when they start seeing how it fits together and the foundation of major doctrines, etc.

3.  Another great method is to study a particular doctrine or topic or character in Scripture.  It’s easy to do, with a simple concordance like Cruden’s or Strong’s, that you can purchase at a Christian bookstore or with the previous links – or, thanks to the internet, do your study for free here.  For instance, if you want to study “grace” or “baptism” or “Joseph”, you simply look up all the verses with those words, and do your own study of the Scriptures, keeping in mind that no doctrine is built on one isolated verse, but (in the words of the good ‘ole KJV I grew up with), it’s “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little”.

4.  Finally, the most important key: start!  The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there’s no better time to get started than now!  I hope that helps – I know wherever you read or study, God will speak to you – at least that’s how it works with me, and I’m always better for it.

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