The Bible is a big book. My personal Bible has almost 1,100 pages of two columns of 9-point text size, with over 700,000 words. Yes, it’s a big book. It’s not as big and complicated as some medical textbooks, but some folks treat it like it is. Still, it’s not a short story novel either.
Because it is a book big, it can be rather intimidating for folks who have never read it before (and even for some folks who have read it or have tried reading it). And that anxiety or uncertainty can sometimes cause us to avoid reading it or to make it harder than it actually is. As a result, folks will often ask, “Where should I start?”
That’s an interesting question on the surface. With any other book, if someone asked where to start, we might think them strange. “Where do you start nearly every other book on the planet? Page 1.” But the question may be asked for a variety of reasons. First, someone may ask because they are familiar enough with the Bible to know that there are different “parts” to it—two main sections, with 66 sub-sections. That may tell them that it might be beneficial or acceptable to start somewhere other than the first page. Or, someone may ask that question because they could be looking for a shortcut, thinking that someone who has read the Bible might be able to give them some insider information. Whatever the reason that the question is asked, I always enjoy hearing it.
My initial response is sometimes, “There’s no wrong place to start.” That might catch some people off guard, and others might disagree heartily. While I would not personally recommend this, I once heard of someone who answered the question by telling folks, who had never read the Bible before, to read the book of Revelation first. I get it—it’s fun to read “the end” of the book first to know where everything is going. But without some kind of Biblical foundation and recognition of Biblical terminology, that might be a particularly difficult place to start.
Could someone start on page one, read it from cover to cover, and benefit greatly from such? Of course! And that is probably the way that the majority of folks would do it. God put the books in order, so it would make sense to read them that way. What about starting with the New Testament first? Would that be a good place to start? What about reading Psalms and Proverbs first?
The answer to any of these places to start is YES! The main thing is to START! After that, the main thing is to KEEP GOING! It’s not a race! There is no minimum! Read it, remembering that ALL of it is God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and that He wrote it for you (Matt. 22:31). Enjoy it! (more next week)
