Stop putting pressure on yourself to read your Bible while taking particular notes or studying particular commentaries each and every time. Learn the basics of how to understand the Bible, and then just start reading!
Do you know entire series of novels—hundreds or even thousands of pages—like the back of your hand? Do you know all the characters in The Chronicles of Narnia (1,632 pages), Harry Potter (4,167 pages), or The Lord of the Rings (1,536)? Could you recite the story, recall all the plot twists, and discuss the motivations of its heroes and villains in detail? Have you been shaped by the beauty you saw there, inspired by the characters, or simply enjoyed the time you’ve spent with it? Have you seen the things around you in light of that story, such that bits of it returned to your mind automatically when you faced similar situations? Have your actions in life been affected by it?
Why do you know that series so deeply? Because you intentionally studied it? You took classes on it? There were tests? No. Because you read it. Repeatedly. That’s how it became part of you.
That was the eye-opening insight I had several years ago about the Bible—my “aha” moment. If simply reading and listening to my beloved novels over and over (series that were at least as long as the Bible) with interest, love, and anticipation caused me to know them inside and out, then why would the Bible be any different? In fact, why wouldn’t simply reading the Bible (as I had these other books) have an even greater effect on my mind and soul as the inspired Word of God, something the Holy Spirit actively works through?
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