Your new life needs to be fed! As your body requires food for its vitality and growth, so too, if you are to thrive and grow as a Christian, your new life in the Spirit will require ongoing nourishment right from the start. Our Father in heaven cares for us and about our growth as his children. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us that he has provided for our spiritual sustenance. As we saw last week the bread of life is none other than Jesus himself but it is primarily through the pages of the Bible that we come to feast on Christ. Not that our growth as God’s children will be easy or quick. Physical growth is a slow and sometimes a painful process. Our spiritual growth will be no different!

In 1 Peter 2:2 we are told: ‘Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.’ And one of the main ways of obeying this command is to read the Bible. But before we go any further let’s just make a few basic points about what the Bible actually is.

• What’s in it?

Looking at the content’s page we discover that the Bible is divided into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are 66 individual books altogether in both sections, 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT. All the OT books were written before the birth of Jesus and all the NT books were written after the birth of Jesus. However, many OT books certainly look forward to events well beyond the birth of Jesus so it would be a mistake to think that the OT merely focuses on events

pre-Jesus. You may like to know that the Greek word ‘biblia’ is the word from which we get the name of the Bible. Its original meaning is ‘many books’ or ‘library’. And that is exactly what the Bible is – a collection of 66 books forming one whole.

The Bible contains a wide variety of different styles of literature. As you read the Bible you will discover narrative history, stories, poetry, parables, letters, apocalyptic writings (if you think fantasy comics are strange just have a look at the book of Revelation!), prophecy and wisdom sayings. These all help to make the Bible a very colourful book and add to its depth and readability.

• Who wrote it?

The collection of books that make up the Bible do not all come from one human source. On the contrary the books were written by many different authors over many thousands of years. And yet the Bible is consistent all the way through! Some of the main contributors were Moses, Isaiah, the apostle John and the apostle Paul.

But the Bible is not just a human book it is also what we call a divine book. Don’t believe me? Then have a look at some of these passages and see for yourself.

Where does verse 16 say the Scripture comes from? What do you think this actually means?

(Please note that at this point ‘Scripture’ must be referring to what we know as the Old Testament)

What does Peter assure his readers of?

Bearing in mind what we know about the word ’Scripture’ why are Peter’s words here so significant?

What do these verses tell us about the New Testament?

We have already hinted at what the Bible will do for us when we read it. But let’s just be crystal clear about what we can expect to happen to us.

What is the Bible useful for? (In your own words!)

So what should we expect to happen as we read the Bible?

What is the promise of verse 3?

It all sounds great in theory! However, in practice Bible study can be hard work. So here are some practical hints for us to make Bible reading slightly less difficult.

• Plan ahead to read it

Our first task is to set aside the necessary time to read it. To plan the time into a busy diary. If we plan to hit nothing then we will hit nothing! Bible study will never just happen. It does need to be planned into the day. Discipline is crucial for spiritual growth. What’s a good time for you? Are you a morning person or an evening person? When are you least likely to be disturbed?

• Place that’s suitable

Do find a place that’s suitable to read your Bible. Usually on our lap in front of Eastenders isn’t the best place to hear God speaking to us through his Word.

• Pray before we read it

This is no mere intellectual activity we are engaging in. We are trying to find nourishment for our very souls! We need to prepare not just our place of study but also our inner selves. We want to pray that the same God who wrote the Bible will, by his Spirit, help us understand them as we read them (See also 1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

• Persevere once we begin

Keep on going once you start. Sometimes Bible reading will be hard work and we need to keep on reading and re-reading.

• Practical helps on offer

There are lots of practical helps on offer as we seek to read our Bibles. Let me mention just a few:

• Fellow Christians. We must never be afraid to ask another Christian if we are struggling to understand something in the Bible. They are not infallible, they may not always be inspiring but they are there to help us.
• Listening to sermons. Take notes during the sermons at church. Listen to how the Bible is explained and handled by the preacher.
• Christian literature. There are all sorts of books that can be helpful to us as we read the Bible. These include dictionaries, handbooks, concordances, Bible reading notes, commentaries, books on Christian belief, books on Church history and many, many others.

• Understanding the Bible by John Stott
• According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy
• How to read the Bible for all its worth by Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart

• Ponder as we read

We must engage our mind when we read. We should get used to asking some questions when we read our Bibles. A few useful ones are:

• What does it say? (A question of observation)
• Why is it here? (A question of context)
• What does it mean? (A question of interpretation)
• What does it mean to me? (A question of application)

We must not adopt the promise-box method of reading the Bible. Let us always be concerned about context!

• Practice what we discover

Lastly, we must put into practice what we read.

James 1:22-24: ‘Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.’

Matthew 7:24-27: Jesus says ‘Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash.’