How Does a Study Bible Help Your Bible Reading?

Much has been said about the indispensability of Bible reading in the Christian life. As a pastor, I would say that all of it is true. In terms of identity, a growing devotion to God’s Word is part of who we are. We cannot say that we are Christians and yet not love what the Word of God says and reveals to us. But also in terms of practicality, I would say that we really cannot survive daily life without regular input from what God says about life and practice -- and all of that is found in the Bible.

It should not seem strange to us then that we will hear pastors pleading to their congregations to read the Bible on a regular basis. And where Bible reading starts to become a norm, good resources are also needed. One of the things that I would usually ask of members of our congregation is for them to get a good study Bible to help them in their regular reading.

A study bible is a Bible-reading resource that you can buy from bookstores. These usually contain verse-by-verse notes that help guide readers in their interpretation of Scripture. Study Bibles would also contain other resources such as overviews of the books of the Bible, relevant articles, maps, and historical tidbits that give more information about what you may be reading at the moment. Of these resources, I would like to point you to the book overviews and verse-by-verse notes, as these should be the most helpful to you when you read the Bible.

How to Use a Study Bible

The first thing a pastor would say to someone who is looking to start reading the Bible is to commit to reading the Scripture first before using the other resources of your study bible. A wise friend (who is also a pastor) once said to us that it is the Scripture that is inspired by God and not the resources. So make sure that you get comfortable in reading Scripture first.

The different books of the Bible also have different genres, whether they fall under the historical category, poetry, apostolic letters (also called epistles), or apocalyptic literature. The book overviews in your study bible should give you a good idea of what genre you will be reading from and how you should approach your study of these different books. Good overviews will also give you ideas of what to look out for and things to take note of as you read through the book.

When you read, try to target sections of Scripture. Study bibles will have general divisions marked in Scripture, and these divisions can help you get an idea of how much you want to read at a particular time. Commit to reading through these sections, and if you have to, read through your selected section multiple times to get a feel of what the author is trying to say.

After you read through the section -- twice at the very least -- then you can check the verse notes that your study bible has. These notes will give you pertinent information and insight as to what the section you read is all about.

Reading the Bible Makes Us More Like Jesus

In the end, the main motive for reading the Bible is to learn more about Christ and live the way he wants us to live. That is to say, so that we would live to be more like him. In chapter 17 of the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed for his disciples and the countless that would believe in him through the ministry of these men. In verse 17 he prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17, NIV). 

To sanctify is to “make holy”. Jesus asked the Father to make his disciples holy -- in a sense, make them more like him. But the clincher is this: Jesus knew that being made holy can only happen by the truth, and that truth he says, is God’s Word itself. I pray that we realize the heavy truth here, that our regular reading of the Bible is the only way that Christians would live to be more and more like Christ, and that he himself prayed to the Father that this be the way we should live to be more like him.

As we commit to reading God’s Word, our ultimate aim is to be more like Christ. A good study bible will make the words easier for you to understand. But it is our desire to be more like Christ that carries us toward reading and enjoying the Bible for all that it really is.

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