How many dresses have
you bought in 2015? How many will you buy this year? How many phones have you
used? How many exercise notes have you bought for you academic purpose? Or how
many books have you bought and read them? Or, how many WhatsApp Posts, Facebook
Comments, Blogs, SMS have you read? Lots and lots, and the number is hardly
memorable.
What about this? How
many Bibles have you bought? How many times have you read it through? Certainly
Christian must answer this boldly. We Christians seem to love the Bible so much
that we hardly use it; or are we deceived, for we do not live out?
Non-Christian like Mahatma Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh read the Bible and
quoted it. On the other hand, many book-reading professing Christians seem to
be more familiar with the story of Jesus depicted in Dan Brown’s Novel than the
actual story written in the pages of the Scriptures.
Let me tell you few
things about Bible to encourage you reading it, and in doing so, your love for
Christ will grow deeper. Also that you will not be ashamed of your faith, but
be equipped to answer who ask you. In fact, reading the Bible REGULARLY is a must
for Christian. Also, none can be saved without knowing or hearing the words of
the Bible. So there is no excuse for anyone who seeks after God. It is true
that the Bible is the best-selling book and the most influential book of all times
for centuries. That alone should draw anyone to read the Bible. We Christians,
testify that “any book can inform,
Bible is not a very
big book! It is not that much difficult to read through as most people think!
You can finish reading the Bible in 70 – 100 hours, depending on how slow or fast
you read it. Yes, you can read Genesis through Revelation in 1 week if you
invest your time like you have done in reading novels, or like the time you
spend in your studies, or like the time you spend in social networking sites.
So any book reader can finish it in a week easily.
The Bible has 66
books in it. Some books are just a one-page book. Few books like Psalms will take
you longer to read it through. So, reading 1 book each a day might not be a
wise thing! If you spend 1 hour a day in Bible you can complete reading it in 3
months. There are many Christians who read like that – 4 times in a year, three
months each time.
Bible has 1189
Chapters. Old Testament has 929, and the New Testament has 260. Each chapter is a
page long on average. Psalm 117 is the shortest, and the longest chapter of the
Bible is Psalm 119. Reading a chapter a day will not let you through the Bible
in a year! If you read 3 chapters of Old Testament, and 1 chapter of New
Testament a day you will be able to walk through the Bible in a Year. Just do a
simple Math!
My experience of
Bible reading tells me that if you spend 15 – 20 minutes each day you will be
able to read through the Bible in a year. 15 – 20 Minutes will amount to 4
chapters (3 OT and 1 NT). If you spend 1 hour each day you will get through 4
times a year. 1 hour reading Bible will accomplish you 10 – 15 chapters,
depending on the length of the individual chapters.
Spending 15 – 20
minutes is not a big deal even for children! Yes, Reading through Bible once a
year is not difficult. There are over 200 different Bible versions in the English
language. Reading different version each year is a wonderful discovery. Buying
New Bible each year is not costly. Some Bibles are free of cost, others cost
just below 300 rupees. Only Fancy and Exhaustive Study Bible cost much.
I have been reading the Bible consistently and curiously and joyously since 2005. I started reading it
for achievement, “I have read it!” but as days passed on, I realized, I have to
read all the time. I will never reach the summit to say “It’s done! I have read
it.” I have read through some of the most popular version once or twice. This
year I am reading English Standard Version.
As the New Year sets
in, some of you must be having the resolution to read more books. Make sure you
include Bible. I heard that Isaac Newton, the Scientist read the Bible more than
any other books. Charles Spurgeon said of John Bunyan (the author of Pilgrim’s
Progress,) that if you cut him, he will bleed Bibline.
Book-reader knows if you read books you can have an efficient literary
conversation, but Bible-reader knows if you read Bible you can have
conversations for all matters of life and beyond.