I have gotten away from what this website was originally created to be: a help to understand the Bible in five minute chunks. It was brought to my attention a few months ago that the name of my site didn’t match the content: much of the content is well over five minutes in length. That slapped me in the face. Sometimes we all need a virtual slap in the face. Well it worked. So, here is to actual five minute Bible studies from here on. And to kick them back off, I want to share a very simple tip to make your Bible reading more meaningful.
First Things First
The tip I am about to share will prove of little use if you have not cultivated some sort of Bible reading routine. You don’t have to be on a one-year Bible reading plan to incorporate this. You just need to be reading the Bible regularly (i.e., daily, four times a week, etc.). With that said, the use of this tip can actually create somewhat of a feedback loop that will motivate more regular Bible reading! I’m not making this up. “Just tell us what the tip is Aaron!” you’re probably thinking at this point. Okay, enough stalling. We’ve only got five minutes after all.
How I Make Bible Reading Meaningful
Be looking for something when you read the Bible. That’s it. That’s the tip. Let me illustrate what I’m talking about with a road trip analogy. On my honeymoon, my wife and I drove six hours from Denver, Colorado to Moab, Utah. A large stretch of the trip was flat and barren. We went miles without any sign of a gas station, but there was still the occasional ranch with an American flag waving patriotically in the front yard. After four hours of exhausting ourselves of lively conversation, my wife introduced me to the Flag Game. That’s the official name by the way. The game is extremely simple. You look for a flag, and when you see one, you say, “Flag!” The person with the most flags identified within the arbitrarily assigned timeframe is the winner with bragging rights … to nothing really. We played for about an hour. Not only did it make the otherwise boring trip fly by, but would you believe that after not seeing a single flag during the previous four hours of our trip, I started seeing flags everywhere?! Of course, the flags were there the whole time, but with a renewed purpose for my driving, I began identifying flags, and an otherwise desolate stretch of road came alive.
Now, instead of a boring road trip, consider a boring book of the Bible. It’s okay to say it out loud. Some Bible books are just boring: Leviticus, most of Numbers, most of Exodus, Job, a lot of 1 Chronicles, and more. Thankfully, the Bible is a compilation of 66 books with a variety of literature from poetry, to narrative, to prophecy, to letters, and more. You’re bound to find a book that’s more your flavor if you just keep reading. But that doesn’t remove the fact that some books are as dry as a Utah desert. How do you make it through all 42 chapters of Job without falling asleep and drooling on your favorite T-shirt?! Identify a theme and look for it in every verse.
For example, last month I was reading through the Psalms as part of my annual reading plan. I had heard several people being critical of modern praise and worship songs for the fact that they are too repetitious, often repeating the same seven or eight lyrics over and over. So, I used this recent topic of conversation to give my Bible reading purpose.
My goal was to pay close attention to every Psalm and see how many of them made inordinate use of repetition. My otherwise monotonous reading through the Psalms took on new life immediately! I didn’t start seeing flags in every Psalm, as it were, but it made me really focus on what I was reading, and beyond that, I did discover a few Psalms to help inform the conversation about modern worship music. Here is what I found.
Psalm 135: The first three verses repeat the phrase “Praise the Lord” five times, and verses 19-21 repeat “bless the Lord” five times. The psalm ends by once again repeating “Praise the Lord.”
Psalm 136: This psalm repeats the phrase “for His name endures forever” a grand total of 26 times. 26 times in 26 verses! By verse 11 you’re like, “Okay, I get it already! His name endure forever!”
Psalm 148: Twelve times in the psalm “Praise the Lord!” is repeated. Eight of those occurrences are within the first four verses alone.
I didn’t start looking for repetition until I was well into the book of Psalms already, so there are likely more Psalms to add to this list. Make it you’re purpose to find them the next time you read!
Conclusion
This isn’t just a meaningless exercise for the sake of exercise. By approaching regular Bible reading in this way, you will undoubtedly find what you are looking for, and you will find yourself discovering many other things, because it greatly increases your focus. For Leviticus, get a pad and paper, write down every time God says through Moses, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Holiness is the main theme, so be looking for it. Bible introduction books like Thomas Nelson’s Complete Books of Bible Maps & Charts or James Smith’s The Old Testament Books Made Simple are great resources to give you ideas of the major themes to be on the lookout for in your routine Bible reading. Try it out and let me know if it makes a difference for you like it has for me.
For more instruction on Bible reading and study, read my workbook, “How to Understand the Bible.” CLICK HERE.
