Why Should I Read The Bible?

As a young child, I owned a Bible – Good News for Modern Man. My Bible became quite tattered from use and it followed me into adulthood.

I remember keeping the Bible in my bedside table (like they do in hotels) and every once in a while I felt compelled to read it. There was always something comforting about the words of Jesus. I felt it soothing and found it a good bedtime read. However, I had no structured routine or pre-planned schedule to spend in the Word. I just read it when it suited my timing.

Years later, after I’d moved to a new town with no family or friends nearby, I started to attend a women’s Bible study. We spent time reading Scripture in response to the study questions. I not only learned about specific topics such as forgiveness but I learned about the Bible itself.

The Bible is not just one big book. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven books in the New Testament written by over forty authors. The writers came from all walks of life including priests, fishermen and doctors. They came from different eras and a variety of locations. They used different writing styles including love songs, history, biography and letters. The writing of the Bible spanned over 1500 years with 400 years between the writing of the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT).

In these studies, I noticed most women brought their own Bibles. As the work included scripture from both the OT and NT my own Bible was not suitable. I borrowed a Bible from the church; it was called the New King James Version. I found it difficult to read because of the language. I wanted something with more current English. That was when a friend gave me a gift of the New International Version Study Bible.

This Bible had both the OT and NT in contemporary language. And it also offered a section to help understand what was written. It gave definitions of words and background information.

I resolved to read the Bible cover-to-cover. In order to do this, I bought a booklet that showed how to read the Bible in a year. Each day, I was to read certain scriptures before moving on to the next day. I found this guide to be very helpful in keeping me motivated to read the Bible daily. I was elated when I finally finished reading the entire Bible.

After a year of reading the Bible in this way, I sought out a new Bible. At the local Christian bookstore, I found that there were a great variety of Bibles from which to choose. Bibles geared toward children, youth and adults, with different language styles. For example, the King James Version is written in older English, while The Message is written in the rhythms and idioms of modern language.

After researching many Bibles I chose the NIV Women of Faith Study Bible. This Bible highlights the women of Scripture and features book introductions, Bible studies, character sketches, and study notes. I enjoy reading this Bible. It’s not boring and irrelevant, as some of my friends have suggested. I find the Bible to have timeless truths and is a marvelous source of insight. I encourage you to check out a Bible today.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV).

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 I find the Bible to have timeless truths and is a marvelous source of insight.