What to Expect When You First Read Through the Bible

by Tony Reinke, contributed by our Friends at Crossway
| Time: 2 Minutes

The Bible daunts any first-time reader, so it’s natural to feel intimidated from the start. Here are three negatives to “scare you off,” and then nine positives to “suck you back in.”  

Three Challenges When You First Read Through the Bible

Expect three challenges that will dampen your desire to read the Bible cover to cover. 

1. You will be opposed.

“Satan hates the word of God and will disincline you, blind you, distract you, bore you.” He will do anything to keep you from the word. Pray for his subversive aims to backfire. “Ask God to keep your heart inclined, remove your blindness, grant you focus instead of distraction, and give you excitement instead of boredom.”

 2. You will be shocked.

The Bible is raw and honest about life and eternal matters. It’s “stunningly graphic in its description, both of our outrageous sin and God’s breathtaking judgment on sin. If you have any kind of sympathetic engagement with the Bible, you will want to throw up at times when you see what God ordains against sin in this world.” Brace yourself.

3. You will be confused.

Expect to come away from Bible reading with unanswered questions, because God does not reveal to us everything we want to know (Deuteronomy 29:29). And what he does reveal is sometimes hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16). You will need preachers and teachers in your life to make progress in the challenging parts of Scripture. Press through the confusion. “Put things together that you can put together. And what you can’t figure out, put on the shelf for later attention, and keep on moving.” Don’t let any question stop your progress.

Nine Blessings to Expect When You First Read Through the Bible

If you press on, expect nine experiences to bless your efforts.

(1) Your faith will be deepened. Faith comes from hearing the word, because the Bible was written to give us hope (Romans 10:17; 15:4).

(2) You will experience new liberation from lies and sins that have plagued you (John 8:32).

(3) You will be outfitted with new weapons to withstand Satan (Matthew 4:1–11).

(4) You will be made more holy (John 17:17).

(5) You will become more loving (Philippians 1:9).

(6) You will be sustained. “The Bible is the means of God by which he goes on saving us” (1 Timothy 4:16).

(7) You will be given an indestructible joy (John 15:11).

(8) You will meet God directly, because he meets us in his word (1 Samuel 3:21).

(9) And you will behold more and more of Christ’s radiant glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). These nine blessed experiences make the challenges of daily Bible reading worthwhile.[1]   

. . .

Sources

[1] APJ 1416: “What Should I Expect My First Time through the Bible?” (January 3, 2020).

Content taken from Ask Pastor John by Tony Reinke, ©2024. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, crossway.org
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Is the Bible Relevant Today?
The Bible has always been useful for whoever is reading it at whatever point in history. It was relevant when it was written, it is relevant now, and it will always be relevant to future generations. God’s words never pass away. He authored his Word to transcend times and cultures, that he might speak to us today. Question is, will we apply ourselves to hear what he has to say?