Firstly, let us look at some simple
guidelines for reading the Bible. So, you have given a Bible to a friend who is
a new Christ-follower or to someone who has never read the Bible; now you need
to help them to read it. But where should they begin reading? This is an essential
part of the process, as it can make the difference between the person
continuing to read the Bible or not. So, let us look at a suggestion for
reading the Bible and why to read it this way.
When reading any book, we usually begin at the start.
However, it is suggested here that, we do not start at the beginning of the
Bible, i.e. with Genesis. Or for that matter even the first book of what it has
been called the New Testament (NT) i.e. Matthew.
It
is suggested here, instead that we get the person to first read
the gospel of Mark. The main reason for this is that it introduces the reader
to Jesus, i.e.,
“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus
Christ, the Son of God” (Mk 1:1 NIV).
If they do not know where Mark is, show them in
the Table of contents that, it is the second book of the NT. Some other reasons
for starting with Mark is that it is the shortest of the gospel stories. In
addition to this, it is the most active and the punchiest in its style out of
the gospels as Mark revealed Jesus’ public life. For example, Mark loves using
the word ‘immediately,’ as he told the story of Jesus and what He was doing. In
fact, it is used about 58 times in the gospels and the book of Acts, and out of
that Mark uses it 41. You will need to get them to read Mark’s account twice.
This is so that they can try to get a good idea of Jesus and what He was doing
while here on earth.
Once they have done that, you would
then encourage them to read the gospel of John, which is the fourth book in the
NT. The reason for reading this gospel here is that it deals more with Jesus’
private life. It is an excellent example of how He lived the same life in
public (as seen in Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and privately and can be an
encouragement for us to do the same.
The next thing for them to read is the
first letter of John, i.e. 1 John, which is the 22nd book in the NT.
It is a great letter that brings out the truth of the confidence of living in
the newfound faith in Jesus Christ. The reason is that this was possibly written
a generation after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It reveals that the
writer of this letter had firsthand experience of being with Jesus. However,
they are still living out their life of faith and putting it into practice and
encouraging others to do the same.
It is only after having done what has
been mentioned above that; you would encourage the reader to read the NT from
the start, i.e. from the gospel of Matthew. You will need to encourage them to
read the NT right through twice.
It is then and only then that they
would go to the beginning of the Bible and read it from Genesis all the way
through the Bible. It is crucial for you to try to help them the best that you
can with some of their questions that will arise. However, encourage them not
to get to hung up on things that they do not understand the first time through
the Bible. The reason is that it will be a lifelong journey of growth and
learning and putting it into practice.
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