All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 1:1 (NIV)The common mistake
The most common mistake new Bible readers make is starting at page one. Genesis is a beautiful book. Creation. The fall. The flood. Abraham. It is gripping. And then you hit Leviticus. Laws about sacrifices, cleanliness, festivals, and the exact measurements of a tent. And most people quit right there.
Not because they are lazy. Because they do not know what they are reading. Leviticus is not a devotional book. It is a legal code for an ancient theocracy. Reading it without context is like reading a tax code for entertainment. It is not designed for that.
All Scripture is useful
All Scripture is useful. But not all Scripture is equally accessible on day one. Paul wrote this to Timothy, a mature believer who had been reading Scripture his whole life. He did not write it to someone opening the Bible for the first time. And there is a difference between what is useful and what is a good starting point.
If you are new to reading the Bible, start with the Gospels. Mark is the shortest and most action-packed. John is the most theological and intimate. Luke is the most detailed and historically grounded. Start there. Get to know Jesus. Then expand outward.
A better reading order
Here is a better reading order for someone who wants to actually understand what they are reading. Start with the Gospel of Mark. It is short, fast-paced, and gives you the core story of Jesus in sixteen chapters. Then read John. It is slower, more reflective, and goes deeper into who Jesus is. Then read Acts, which tells you what happened after Jesus left and how the church started. Then read some of Paul's letters, starting with Philippians, which is short, warm, and deeply practical.
Only after you have read those should you go back to Genesis. Because now you will read it differently. You will not just see stories. You will see the foundation of the story you already know. You will see how the promise to Abraham connects to Jesus. How the sacrifice system points to the cross. How the creation story sets up the redemption story. Genesis makes more sense after you know the ending.
Read slowly
And here is the most important thing. Read slowly. Not a chapter a day. A paragraph a day if you need to. The goal is not to finish. The goal is to understand. And understanding takes time. The Bible is not a novel. It is a library. And libraries are not meant to be consumed in a single sitting.
Try a new starting point
Close your Bible. Open Mark chapter 1. Read three verses. Sit with them. Ask "what does this tell me about Jesus?" That is a better starting point than any reading plan.
- Where have I been starting in the Bible?
- Have I ever quit in Leviticus?
- Which Gospel have I read most?
- Why is Genesis not the best starting point?
- What makes Leviticus hard to read?
- Why does knowing the ending help reading the beginning?
Where have you been starting? If it is Genesis and you are stuck in Leviticus, close it. Open Mark chapter 1. Read three verses. Sit with them. Ask "what does this tell me about Jesus?" That is a better starting point than any reading plan.
God, help me read Your Word in a way that makes sense. Give me wisdom about where to start. Help me understand what I read. I want to know Jesus more. Amen.
Tomorrow we tackle one of the most important skills in Bible reading: understanding context. Why pulling verses out of context changes their meaning, and how to read Scripture the way it was meant to be read.
With honesty and hope,
Claire