Beeke’s Book of the Month for August 2024 is How Can I Read the Bible as a Teen? from the Cultivating Biblical Godliness Series by Dr. Joel Beeke. Enjoy this brief excerpt from their introduction to learn why reading the Bible is difficult but necessary.
If you had to make a list of things that characterize the Christian life, what would you include? I assume that grace would be high on the list. Christian lives should be gracious lives. Christians are people who have found peace with God through Jesus by grace alone, and their lives should radiate grace toward others! It is a characteristic that affects every area of their lives.
But what about simpler and more day-to-day things? I’m sure you could think of many things that Christians regularly do, but praying and reading the Bible would probably come to mind first. Praying and reading the Bible are things that Christians do all the time.
In this booklet, we’re going to look at the second of those two things: reading the Bible. In particular, we will look at the Christian’s daily reading of God’s Word. But before we look at the very practical aspects of reading a Bible, we should settle two simple truths. The first is this: reading the Bible is hard work. The second is this: reading the Bible is totally worth it. If you keep these two truths in mind, you will save yourself from a lot of difficulty when it comes to reading the Bible. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.
Most of you probably already know that reading the Bible is hard work. I’m sure you’ve tried and found it very difficult at times. Perhaps sometimes you’ve even given up. It might surprise you to know that reading the Bible is often hard work for adults, too. It can be hard work even for ministers. Sometimes I just can’t wait for my next opportunity to read the Word of God, but that’s not always the case. We’re going to look at ways to make it easier and to find great joy in it, but that won’t change the fact that it’s hard work. If you are going to read your Bible seriously every day, you had better realize that you are in for some struggle. If you think it’s going to be a relaxing walk in the park, you’re going to be dreadfully disappointed. It’s tough slogging, even for adults and even for ministers.
Why Reading the Bible is Hard Work
Why is it so tough to read the Bible? Here are three big reasons:
- The Bible is big. In fact, it’s huge! It’s more like a library than a book. In fact, it is a library of books: sixty-six of them. That’s a lot of books! Some of you may not even own sixty-six books. The Bible I was using when I was writing this has some study notes at the bottom of the page, so it’s a bit longer than many Bibles—just over two thousand pages! Even the average pew Bible has more than one thousand pages. The Bible is probably one of the longest books in your house. No wonder it’s hard to read! It’s long.
- The Bible has a lot of parts that are hard to understand—not just for young people, but for adults, too. In fact, the apostle Peter admitted that he found some of what Paul wrote difficult to understand. So you’re not the only one who’s often left wondering what something in the Bible means.
- The Bible often seems irrelevant. Have you ever tried to read the first half of Isaiah, only to find pages and pages of curses against people with unpronounceable names who died thousands of years ago? What does that have to do with anything today? If the Bible is the biggest book you own and one of the most difficult books you’ve ever read, you need a good reason to go through all the work of trying to get through the whole book. If it seems irrelevant, you’re unlikely to read it from cover to cover.
Excerpt from
How Should Teens Read the Bible? – Cultivating Biblical Godliness Series
By Joel Beeke
