Wednesday, October 12, 2011

How to read your Bible part 1 (A starters guide to following Christ)


Start Here:

Becoming a Christian and choosing to follow Jesus Christ can be a tough experience. You heard the good news, you met some Christians, and now you're wondering what's next?

Well I thought it would be cool to do a few articles for those of you who recently accepted Christ or for those who want to start taking their faith more seriously.

Lets get started!

The Bible

The best place to start is the Bible. This is where truth can be found and where we gain understanding for how to follow Jesus. Without this book we would be completely lost. This book is God’s word to us yesterday, today, and tomorrow. To know how to properly use this book we need to start with where we find wisdom.

The Way of Wisdom

Wisdom can be gained through one of three ways:

1. Personal Experience

I can learn from my experiences. For example I learned that if I kicked a hornets nest it resulted in pain…a lot of pain. Therefore I gained wisdom never to do that again!

2. Other people’s experience

I don’t have to try everything to know if it can hurt or help me, I can learn from seeing others make the mistakes before I do. Wisdom therefore can be gained when I observe other people’s experiences.

3. From God

The Holy Bible is about God. It was written by God, using the hands of men. This is the ONLY wisdom that is ultimate. This is where I can gain knowledge of God and learn more about Him. The Bible is NOT about me, it’s all about God.

The Bible also provides wisdom that shows me how to live on a very practical level. It tells me how to get along with other people. It lets me know what things are important in life and what things aren't.

Do you want to know more? Read the book of Proverbs in the Bible. It's near the middle, after the book of Psalms.

Knowing that the Bible is where the wisdom of God can be found helps us all to know how to follow Jesus. This is where we have to start. This is where we need to stay until God calls us home.

No one is exempt from studying God’s word since it should continually draw us to God. Have you read your Bible today?

-Benjamin Jepsen

You can read more from Ben on his Blog

(Photo credit: "High into the Mist" by Evgeni Dinev)

Your Turn:

What have you read lately that gave you insight? Was it in the Bible? Tell me more.

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