Seven Steps to Beneficial Bible Reading

IT IS ironic that many people have a Bible yet seem to gain little value from reading it. Others, though, treasure what they read in the Bible.  For example, a woman named Nancy relates:  "Since I began reading and meditating on the Bible early each morning, I feel ready to face whatever the day may bring.  This routine has done more to relieve my bouts of depression than anything I have tried over the past 35 years."

Even if you have never read the Bible, does it intrigue you that some have received  help from it?    If you are already a Bible reader, would you like to benefit more from your reading?  If so, try the seven steps described in this article.

Step 1:  Read for the right reason

*You could read the Bible  simply as beautiful literature or out of a sense of duty or with the idea that you  will find guidance in this troubled world. You will benefit most though, if your aim is to learn the truth about God. In addition, you will reap rich rewards if your motive is to see how the Bible's message can affect your life. 

The Scriptures highlight the importance of reading for the right reason by comparing the Bible to a mirror:  "If anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and off he goes and immediately forgets what sort of man he is.  But he who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it, this man, because he has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be happy in his doing it." -James 1:23-25.

The man in this example looked at his face in the mirror but failed to adjust his appearance. Perhaps he only glanced at himself, or maybe he lacked the desire to make any changes.  Similarly,m we will benefit little if we read the Bible haphazardly  or fail to apply what we read. In contrast, we can gain true happiness if we peer into the Bible with the idea of becoming "a doer," allowing God's thinking to mold our thoughts and actions.

Next time: Continue with Seven Steps to Beneficial Bible Reading-Step two: Select a reliable translation

From the Watchtower magazine, 2010