The Bible: Mark, read and inwardly digest.

BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Thomas Cranmer, 2^nd collect in Advent

This month in our Trinity teaching series we will be looking at the bible; so I thought I would give my personal slant on this massive subject. I was brought up on a daily diet of bible reading which I heard every day at school or Sunday School and am still able to quote whole chunks in the old King’s James version. However, it was not until I was converted in my first year at college that the bible really came alive as the living word of God.

As the living and active word of God, breathed throughout by the Holy Spirit, it is essential daily reading for every child of God who has a desire to grow and be more like Jesus. As we read it we should be actively praying that God’s Spirit should be with us to illumine what God is actually teaching us today through His word, to change how we think speak and act.

Really good and accurate texts of the bible exist today in the original Greek and Hebrew, however few of us have much ability to read these so we need good translations. This is very much personal preference, there are two main methods of translation, one is word for word; translating the actual words into good English. The ESV is a good example which I enjoy personally, as it is very accurate and still maintains a lot of the beauty of the AV. The other is taking the meaning or thought of the original text and rendering the meaning in free flowing English, such as the New Living Translation.   The New International Version, the text we use in church, is somewhere in the middle of these two methods. There are also paraphrase translations which seek to capture something of the rhythms and idioms of the original text, such as The Message, which is a really exciting read and is helpful particularly in some parts of the Old Testament.

I think it is important to open and read the Bible as a daily devotion. I find the online resource WordLive particularly helpful, which comes with two commentaries on the passage and lots of other explanatory notes. There is also a list of readings to enable you to read through the bible in a year. This is very helpful as it gives you an overview and helps see how the Old and New Testament fit together and complement each other. On embarking on reading the bible through there are two books which I find particularly helpful “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” by Stuart and Fee, available online at: How to read the   and  How to read the Bible Book by 

There are a lot of other free helps online. There are superb bible apps especially the ESV for iPhone or Android which is very quick and easy. There are many translations at: Bible gateway and Bible Hub  which also has interlinear Greek and Hebrew Bibles which you can use as a concordance. Click on a word to get all the occurrences and how the word is translated into English. There are many other helps such as good Bible dictionaries both Baker and Easton here: Biblestudytools 

  

Biblical meditation.

As well as getting the big picture it is good to focus down on a small piece of text, learning, chewing over and meditating on a passage. One method is called Lectio Divina, Traditionally, it has four separate steps: read; meditate; pray; contemplate. First a passage of Scripture is read, then its meaning is reflected upon. This is followed by prayer and contemplation on the Word of God. Again available online  at Lectio

I hope this blog has helped you to really get excited about getting into God’s word, as a way of listening to and obeying what the Lord Jesus has to speak into your life day by day.