Greg and Amy encourage believers to treat Bible reading like a healthy diet—commit to consistency, expect natural ebbs and flows, and trust that long-term faithfulness will produce lasting spiritual growth.
Transcript
Question: I love studying apologetics. I love listening to all your podcasts, reading articles, etc. But when it comes to actually just reading my Bible, I find it difficult to want to do so. Is there a way to bridge that gap, or is that something I just have to discipline to do anyway?
Greg: I think the desire—actually desire for anything—as the tide goes, ebb and flow, back and forth. All right? I think desire for anything is like that. You’re going to bang away at apologetics for a while, then you’re going to get a little bit tired, and then it’s not going to seem like so much fun. It’s going to seem more like work. Now, if you’re trying to develop your craft as an apologist or just develop your ability to give an answer for the hope that’s within you, you’re going to stick with it. All right? Even when it’s not so great. The same thing with Bible study or Bible reading/study. There are times when it just seems to come easier, and we’re just invested in it and gobble it up, and other times where it’s more difficult.
I think that your comment about it being a discipline is the right way to approach it. Just make it a habit. And habits are formed by repeated events, especially if you don’t miss one. Now, I usually read at least a chapter a day, maybe more. Now, this morning, I got up at six o’clock, left at seven, and drove over two hours to get to the office. I didn’t read my Bible. I guess I could have listened to the Bible on tape or something, but I was praying, lamenting before God about things, and then I called my brother to have a personal conversation with him. And no, I haven’t read my Bible yet. I’m reading it now while we’re reading these verses for the question. So, it doesn’t have to happen every day, but I’m not interfering with my habit because I miss a day, because it is habitual to me. Tomorrow, I’ll be in my chair first thing in the morning with my coffee and with the Lord.
Now, at nighttime before I go to bed, I do have a habit of reading a chapter of Psalms or Proverbs. I go through all the Psalms. I go through all Proverbs, and then I start over again. Sometimes, a long Psalm, I’ll only read half of it. And in Proverbs, I only read half a chapter because there’s so much there. But that’s a habit. It’s a discipline, and sometimes it doesn’t feel that meaningful. I don’t know what else to say. But I always approach it with respect. I approach the Word with respect. I say, “Okay, here I am, Lord. Here I am.” That’s what I say a lot of times in the morning and in the evening. “Okay, here I am. Here’s your Word. Your Word is really great,” and, “Just feed me with it; help me with it,” whatever. And then I’ll read it. And maybe I’m done reading that portion of psalm or whatever, and I think, “Okay, well, I’m done with that. Can’t get much.” I might see a couple lines that are meaningful, and I’ll thank God for that. I’ll interact with as much as I can before the Lord, but I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on myself.
The key for me is consistency. It’s like a healthy diet. If you have a consistently healthy diet, the effects are going to be felt over time in your healthy body. And in the same way, reading on a regular basis is going to have that same effect on your spiritual body, as it were.
Amy: I would echo your advice that you have to make this a discipline. So, I would say, yes, Josh, you do have to discipline yourself to do it anyway. Whenever you’re starting a habit, it’s hard to start it. You don’t want to do it. It takes a lot of effort. The more you develop and strengthen that habit, the more you automatically do it. You get over that resistance to it. And I would say there’s probably extra resistance to spiritual habits, because you’ve got spiritual opposition that wants to distract you from developing this habit. So, it will be hard at first. However, the more you do it, the better you know the Bible, the more familiar you are with it, the more you’re going to enjoy reading it.
So, my advice to you, in addition to just developing the discipline, if you’re looking for something to bridge the gap of wanting to read it, I think you need to learn more about it. I think you need to have a better idea of the big picture of the Bible. And one thing you could do to help you with that is get Greg’s videos The Bible Fast Forward, which you can get at our website. Because if you have a framework—if you understand the big picture of the Bible—as you’re reading through, things are going to make a lot more sense, and they’ll be more meaningful to you. So, I would recommend getting a big picture.
I also recommend reading more at once—at least a chapter. Don’t just read a tiny bit and try and “get something out” of that tiny bit. The way the Bible’s meant to be read is as a meaningful book. So, you need to read more at once if you want to understand the bigger picture framework but also how these parts fit in with that.
So, get a big picture. Read more at once. If you can read several chapters at once, that would be great. Another thing you might want to do is maybe focus on one book. Read the same book every day for a while and memorize it. Work on memorizing it. That will increase your love for that book especially, but maybe that will ignite some love for the Bible for you.
Another thing you can do as you’re starting off this habit is to listen. You mentioned this as a possibility. You were driving, and the ESV app is so easy to use, and their narrator is great. Sometimes you have a Bible. I usually read the NASB, and I’m not really happy with the narrator. So, when I’m listening, I’m usually listening to the ESV. It’s so easy to use. The app is free. You just find your passage; you press play. There you go. It’s very easy to do. You get in the car, you can listen. You’re brushing your teeth, you can listen. So, that’s another way to get through more of it and to familiarize yourself with it. Again, the more familiar you get with it, the more you will enjoy it.
So, don’t take this—the way you feel about reading right now—as how it’s always going to be just because of that’s who you are. That’s not true. If you can develop this habit and get over this initial resistance, if you can get a framework, if you can read more at once and think about what you’re reading, maybe do some memorizing, I think all of these things will really help how you enjoy reading the Bible.
Greg: And especially commit yourself to read through the entire Bible. And I’ve talked about this before—having the Bible-in-a-year check-off squares—but I don’t read it in a year. It usually takes me four years. But I can check off squares when I complete the reading for that square. It might take me two or three days for one square because if it’s three chapters for the square, I’ll just wait until I finish the three chapters and then check the square. But if you keep doing that, then you’re getting the full counsel of God in your life.
I would add, one other thing is don’t make a demand on yourself that you have an exhilarating experience every time you read the Word or are in prayer. It just doesn’t work like that. There’s an ebb and a flow. And sometimes it’s going to be better than others just depending on a whole host of things.
C.S. Lewis talks about us being, kind of, our foot in two worlds. We’re one in time and one in eternity is the way he expresses it. And so, we are kind of always up and down and up. He calls it the law of undulation. That’s in The Screwtape Letters, by the way.
So, just don’t make a big emotional demand on yourself regarding reading Scripture. Just build a consistent habit and all those other things will take care of themselves over time. Sometimes, it’s not going to be that fun. That’s okay. Just do the job and then move on.
Amy: I have just a couple quick more things. One thing you might want to do is have a notebook there or a computer there, and if there is something that—if you notice how some things fit together or you have an idea of this passage that you see God in a different way or it helps you to understand something, just write it down. And sometimes just doing that will help you to see more things like that. So, if you’re ready to make a note and to think about what you’re reading a little bit, then sometimes that helps you to have more of those moments. The only danger with that is that if you think you have to do that, that can stop you from reading. So, don’t think that. This is just something to maybe kind of prime that pump a little bit.
And then finally, pray about it. Ask God to help you do this, because again, this is a spiritual battle going on. There are spiritual forces out there that don’t want you to read the Bible. So, pray that God will help you through this and encourage you and help you to develop this habit.