Articles
Bible Study Toolbox
Bible Study Toolbox
[This article is the first in a new segment in the bulletin equipping the saints for better Bible study. In the “Bible Study Toolbox” section, we’ll be giving you tools to help you mine the treasures of God’s word more effectively.]
Long-Distance Reading
“When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans…” (Colossians 4:16a). When the Colossians and Laodiceans received this letter, do you think they divided it up and read one chapter a day for 4 days? No way! There were no chapter breaks, and they would have read it straight through from start to finish. We do the same when we receive letters and emails today, no matter how long they are. Why?
Reading the entire text gives us context, it helps us trace the logic, feel the emotion and tone, discover the purpose, and see the main ideas. To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with reading a few chapters a day for our personal devotion time. Meditating on small chunks of Scripture certainly draws us closer to God. However, for deep Bible study, long distance reading is your friend. If you really want to understand what a book is all about, make it a goal to read it in as few sittings as possible. Most could read Colossians in 15 minutes. Genesis, however, would take three to four hours to read straight through, which is probably too intense. Instead, try reading 10 chapters a day for 5 days. You’ll get much more out of it than 3 chapters a day for 3 weeks. Long distance reading is about ingesting large portions of Scripture all at once. Read the smaller books straight through. Medium books like Romans and 1 Corinthians only take an hour each. Break the biggest books into the biggest chunks you can. Long distance reading takes patience and focus, but it opens up a whole new world of understanding!
