2 Mistakes Most Christians Make When Trying to Read the Bible

I've never met a Christian who didn't want to have a closer relationship with God. 

But I've met lots of Christians who don't want to read God's divine Word.

Those two things don't line up! God has chosen to give us his very words. If you want to know God better, then common sense would tell us that the best way to do that is to read the words he's given us for that purpose! 

There are 775,000 words in the Bible. God has given us less than a million words of divine revelation that are sufficient to teach us everything we need to know about Jesus and everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). In less than 10 minutes a day for 365 days, you can read all 775,000 words. Or in 12 minutes a day you can listen to a narrator read those words to you on the ESV Bible app (FREE).

Here's a challenge to you: try reading the entire Bible in 2017. If you choose to take this challenge, I'd like to warn you of two major mistakes that MOST people make when trying to read the Bible:

Mistake #1 - They don't have a plan. I know many an ambitious person who simply decides to read the Bible from cover to cover without a plan. Most make it to Numbers around Easter and then give up. So here's a plan for you - read the Bible with The Bible Project. The READ SCRIPTURE app takes this plan and puts it into app form, which is really nice. Both Pastor Bland and I are going to use this plan in 2017. The folks who make The Bible Project are super solid, and their videos will inspire and inform you. I may have a seminary degree, but I still go to these short videos to help me remember what's happening with the minor prophets (hopefully none of my OT profs will read this!).

Mistake #2 - They try to do it by themselves. This is one of the biggest mistakes that American Christians make in general. They think of their spiritual lives in the context of just individuals with Jesus. But the Bible always addresses Christians within the context of the church. What if there were large swaths of people within CoaH reading the Bible on the same plan? You could pick an accountability partner in your community group and meet every few weeks to talk about what you're learning. In my opinion, this is almost an essential ingredient to get the most out of a reading plan.

Praying for you as you dive into the Scriptures! Looking forward to talking about it with you :)

Pastor Fletcher