I really enjoy reading the Bible. I have gained comfort reading it. I have learned about myself from reading it. I have learned about God from reading it.
I started reading the Bible on my own in high school. I was raised in the church, and I did open and use the Bible before then, but I think high school was when I really started reading it on my own. Since then, I have completely read through the Bible many times and in multiple versions. I am currently reading it in “The Message” translation. I have read it in New Revised Standard (thank you college classes), New King James, New American Standard, and New International Version. I must admit that right now I like NAS the most.
There are advantages to reading the Bible that I think even many Christians don’t fully get. Many have heard that they should read it, and they think the Bible is important, but they don’t do it. They think hearing it at church is enough. But by reading it on your own you get to experience the fullness of God’s Word to humankind. This can create issues, because people can misinterpret what the words are saying, but hopefully the Holy Spirit will guide the reader to understanding, or that the person will look to others with more understanding for guidance (This is where church attendance can be helpful). I know that there is something when reading the Bible that can come out at times and hit you at just the right time if you allow the Holy Spirit to talk to you.
The Bible is long, and it takes time to read. I try to read every morning. I try to read 2-3 chapters a day, and that means it will take me a long time to finish, but that is ok. It isn’t about getting to the end; I already know the ending. It is about reading what God had, and has, to say in the words. There are certainly mornings when I am less engaged with the Word, and I can tell later in the day that I didn’t really “listen” while reading. There are days when I re-read a verse because there seems to be something there that stands out that day. Those are the times to listen and learn.
I enjoy partaking in Bible studies that cover specific books/sections of the Bible as well. It helps me gain more understanding of the passages with insights from Bible scholars. (I think I may write more on some of the studies I like sometime). I always try and read the complete books when doing these studies at the beginning of the study. It is very important to understand the context of the passage when reading it. Making sure you always understand who was writing it (other than God that is since He inspired all the words and used humans to put it down on paper), why they were writing it, whom they were writing it to, and when they were writing. If you miss any of these, you can misunderstand the meaning of a given passage (Ephesians 5 anyone…).
The Bible is full of different kinds of literature. It has great poetry (Psalms). It tells history in grand ways. It has prophesies of the future and how those prophesies were fulfilled in some cases. It is full of great wisdom on life (Proverbs) and love (Song of Solomon). It tells of the early history of the Christian church. It is amazing. And through it all it tells us of God’s great love for us and how He came to save us.
The Bible is for everyone to read. I really hope everyone takes time to read it. If you have never read it before I would advise starting in the New Testament (maybe with the Gospel of John). Once you get through that you can read the Old Testament and that will allow you to see the background for the New Testament and that God never changed His plans. He was always working toward saving us (humankind) from our sins by sending His Son Jesus to pay the price for us.