Read the whole Bible.
In my opinion, the New Testament should be read before venturing into reading the whole Bible. I started out by reading all of the New Testament over the last four months of 2007. At Christmas I received a Daily Bible and began reading that from January of 2008. IN THE DAILY Bible, the Old Testament is covered from January 1st to October 15th. During times of trials in my life I found myself laying down the Daily Bible and picking up the New Testament. I gained a lot of spiritual strength and support in going over the portions in the NT that I had underlined in 2007. There were times when I lagged behind or got ahead in my reading schedule by about a week or so but I managed to completely read all the Daily Bible by the end of the year.
At the beginning of this year, 2009, I began re-reading the Daily Bible from the beginning. This year I found that I needed a regular infusion of the New Testament along the way because I started to get a sort of law mentality from reading only the Old Testament—a combination of a legalistic and an unrelenting bent against sin, a sort of ‘Jeremiah mentality’ (thats the best I can describe it).
Last Christmas, at a bookstore closeout, I got a good deal on the Life Application Study Bible. I felt it was really God’s hand because that Bible has been an incredible addition to reading the Daily Bible. Not only do I turn to the LASB in times of trials but in the last couple months, in an effort to avoid an OT mentality, I have tried to read the OT one day and the NT the next. The LASB has notes on most scriptures on how to apply it to our lives.
This month I have finished the OT and now I start on my third reading of the NT. For me reading the Bible a second time was like I was reading it for the first time. It so long that I forgot a lot of what I had read and God showed me just as many new things the second time around as He did the first time.
The Daily Bible is 1800 pages which is five pages a day over the course of a year to complete. The average book is 300 pages so it’s like reading six books—which isn’t too much to read over the course of a year. Many people read more than six books in a year. This year I decided to only read the Bible and I’ve got to tell you I haven’t felt anything was missing in my reading diet. It has been a testament to the sufficiency of the Bible alone.
The Daily Bible is about 15% commentary which is partly scriptural interpretation but mostly historical and cultural background information. The Life Application Study Bible is about 50% commentary which is mainly scriptural interpretation. Based on my experience, I believe the Bible should be read instead of Christian literature. I would estimate Christian literature is about 15% Bible scripture and 85% scriptural interpretation.
Instead of reading another man’s interpretation of God’s Word, read and interpret it for yourself—that’s ultimately what God wants us to do. Don’t fear misunderstanding it, trust the Holy Spirit as our guide, teacher, and counselor. There are many times that God creates circumstances in my life that resonate with what I”M READING IN THE Bible, giving me an experiential understanding instead of just intellectual knowledge of His Word.
