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“I want to read the Bible, but I don’t know where to begin.”
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“I tried reading the Bible once, but didn’t get very far?”
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“Made it to the middle of Exodus and was like…what is this? Looked at Leviticus and closed the book.”
What do I read? Help!
I have heard statements like these more than I can number. Nothing wrong with the statements by the way. Nothing wrong with the people that say them. Comments like these are honest.
Many people want to read the Bible but don’t know where to start. Or, they think the place to start is the beginning. After all, that is where you begin with most books.
5 Reasons the Bible is Different
The Bible is different though. Although there are many reasons, here are 5 reasons why it is different:
- 1The Bible is not written chronologically.
- 2The Bible is a compilation of 66 books.
- 3The Bible is two-parts. The first part is written from a Jewish context. The second is written with a Christian context drawing on the Jewish context.
- 4Some parts of the Bible tell the exact same story but from a different perspective.
- 5The Bible consists of narrative stories (much like any story), history books (think History 101), songs (just like any lyrics to any song you know), prayers, wisdom writings (deep thoughts about life not written in any particular order), personal letter written to others, and even some romance.
Just these 5 reasons are enough to create confusion about where to begin.
So, let me share with you what book of the Bible I would tell a new disciple to read first. As pointed out in a previous blog post I would tell a new disciple to begin with the Gospels. But, which Gospel would I say to read first?
MARK
I would point a new disciple to the Gospel of Mark.
Why Mark?
Here are 5 reasons why I would point to Mark.
- 1Mark is a Gospel. This means it tells the story of Jesus. New disciples should always begin with the good news of Jesus.
- 2Mark is short. Mark is the shortest of the gospels which means the likelihood of completing it is greater. Even the stories are short. He doesn’t give too much extra input to the stories.
- 3Mark is concise. Unlike the other gospels, Mark gets straight to the point. Mark does not have a lot of narration or comments about the story. He simply moves from one story about Jesus to another.
- 4Mark is clear. Mark doesn’t leave the reader wondering about all the layers behind the story. The reader doesn’t have to wonder what Mark meant by something.
- 5Mark is an easy read. Most people can pick it up and not have any issues reading it.
So, if you are one of the many people wondering where to begin, begin with Mark. Sixteen chapters broken down into short stories (in most translations). Pick one story a day. Most of the stories are only a few verses. You could read a story in less than five minutes.
Mark as a Devotional
Mark makes a great devotional reading. Follow these steps:
STEP 1: Read the story.
STEP 2: Think about how the story makes you feel.
STEP 3: Pray about the feelings you have.
There you go. Done and done.
[…] post I mentioned where a person should start reading the Bible. Following that post I talked about the one book of the Bible I would have someone read. Well today, let’s narrow it down further, what one verse would I have a new disciple […]
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