| The term, God-breathed means
that scripture came from the very mouth, heart and mind of God. The Bible
is your source of instruction for a successful life. As you live in accordance
with it, you will find abundant blessing. When you live contrary to it,
you will lose blessings that God would have given you. To be blessed you
must make it your aim to thoroughly know the Word of God. This is a lifetime
goal, but it must begin somewhere.
The Bible is actually made up of 66 books. These books
are divided up into two sections. The first section is called the Old
Testament and is made up of 39 books. They span from creation and the
sin of man to God’s promise of a savior from our sins. The second
section is called the New Testament. It is made up of 27 books and begins
with the fulfillment of the promise made in the first section, that of
a savior coming.
The best place for a new believer to start reading the
Bible is in the Gospel of John. You can find this in a Bible by looking
in the Table of Contents in the New Testament section.
John will be the fourth book in the New Testament. Some
Bibles refer to this book as the Gospel of St. John. You will notice that
chapters divide the Gospel of John. There are 21 chapters. In each chapter,
smaller numbers separate sentences and phrases. These numbers are called
“verses.” The first sentence in the Gospel of John is designated
as John 1:1. John refers to the Gospel of John. The first “1”
refers to the chapter and the second “1” after the colon
refers to the verse. The whole Bible is divided in this way so a person
can find a passage by looking up the numbers.
A new believer should read one chapter a day and make
notes on what the chapter says to him or her. The easiest way to do this
is to sit down with a Bible, pen and notepad asking God to speak to you
as you read. Then read each paragraph or section of the chapter with these
questions in mind:
- “What does it say?”
- “What does it mean?”
- “Is there a truth for me to learn?”
- “How can I apply this to my life?”
Notes should be written on the notepad as you read. Write
down any questions that come up so you can ask a Christian friend or pastor.
Without a constant intake of God’s
Word, your faith will become weak.
God’s Word is to the soul what good food is to
the body. Remember a baby does not enter this world eating full course
dinners. Do not become discouraged if it takes a little while for you
get as much out of your time in God’s Word as you would like. You
need to study the Word every day. The best way to do it is in the morning
before you leave home. That way you are prepared for the day.
What time will you need to get up in
the morning to spend at least 20 minutes in God’s Word? |