Have you ever been in church and the pastor asks the congregation to please open your Bibles to book, chapter and verse so and so? It’s easy to spot the people who rarely read their Bibles because they’re the ones frantically flipping the pages of their Bibles because they don’t have a clue where to look. They have no familiarity with their Bible and they’re not fooling the other Christians around them. They usually sneak a peek at the person next to them in the pew for some clue where to look.
As the pastor starts to read the verses upon which his sermon will be based the congregation is supposed to be ready and reading the Bible along with him. All those people who still haven’t located the right verse by then suddenly stop looking so as not to appear obvious. These people then stare straight ahead and act like they found the right verse. They all hope nobody will notice. How do I know this? Because I’ve done it myself and seen it a hundred times in church before I became familiar with my Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Proverbs 23:12 – Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.
1 Timothy 4:13 – Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Titus 2:7 – In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.
Even if you are saved, if you’re not well-versed in God’s Word you’re not worth your salt, which means as an instrument of God for the good of the kingdom you are essentially worthless. God will put you on the shelf until such time as you become useful to him. You can only become useful to God by knowing your Bible. Only then can you be obedient to the commands of God. Once you’ve accepted God’s grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you become a servant of Christ for as long as you live. That is your reasonable service to the God who made you and needs your help to witness for Christ and to do good works. As one of God’s foot soldiers, not knowing your Bible is like not having any bullets in your gun or not having any arrows in your quiver.
If you don’t understand your responsibilities once you become a Christian you may wind up on spiritual milk your whole life and fall short of the plans God has for your life. Once you’re saved by faith you’ll still go to heaven even if you do nothing constructive with your faith but you’ll suffer great loss of heavenly rewards that could have been yours for the taking. Salvation is always by faith alone, apart from any works. But to receive any rewards in heaven once we get there we must have served the Lord by being obedient to his word. When you stand before Jesus on the last Day, having done nothing with the precious gift of salvation God gave you, don’t expect Jesus to be pleased with you. Don’t expect Jesus to say, “Well done good and faithful servant,” because that won’t happen. Don’t try telling Jesus you didn’t know what was required of you because you should’ve known and you could’ve known with a little effort. Ignorance is no excuse before the God of creation. Being a lukewarm Christian is displeasing to God so I urge you to go “all in” and serve the Lord with all your heart.
Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
1 Peter 1:17 – And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.
Revelation 3:15-16 – (God speaking) – I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
When you do the minimum works for God during your lifetime you’ll receive the minimum rewards from Jesus on the last Day. Is that really what you want? Think about it. Do you want to go through eternity knowing you missed out on a boatload of rewards because you did not serve God adequately during your brief lifetime here on earth? What a waste of a precious life! Whatever rewards you do get in heaven will be for all eternity so why not use your time here constructively and wisely to strive for greatness? You have no excuse for failure because God has given us all we need for success. God has given us his word, the Bible, so that we can know God and do what’s required of us.
Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
All it takes is a little effort on our part. Is that too much to ask from the God who made us; from the God who loves us? It’s up to us to know what it is that God commands us to do in order to please him and build up treasures in heaven. The Bible confirms that the blind cannot lead the blind, or both will wind up in the ditch. If you don’t know your Bible you’re walking around like a blind man. You cannot please God by stumbling around in spiritual darkness and only God’s Word can remove your spiritual blindfold so you can see the light of the truth of God. If you don’t even know what God’s commandments are it’s imperative that you study the Bible for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. You cannot “do” the will of God until you “know” what it is you have to do. Biblically speaking, understanding is defined as, “the avoidance of evil.”
James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
The Bible is the wisdom of God and is the key to fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. We must first know what to do, which is where the Bible comes in, and then we must obey God’s commandments to the best of our ability. If you haven’t read your Bible all the way through start immediately. If you don’t study your Bible start today, right where you are. Meditate (think) about God’s Word and how the Scriptures relate to your life. Remember, when we read the Bible God is talking to us individually so listen carefully. As a child of God, the Bible was written just for us and speaks to our heart.
Proverbs 8:34 – Blessed is the man who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors.
Ruth 2:12 – The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.
Galatians 6:9-10 – And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of God.
Revelation 22:12 – (Jesus speaking) – And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
I’m not saying all Christians need to be Bible scholars but we should all have a basic familiarity with the Bible. I’m saying that as Christians we should be really excited and joyous knowing we have been given the greatest gift in the universe, which is salvation unto eternal life in heaven with God the Father. I’m saying we should love and “fear” our heavenly Father because of what he has done for us. We should honor, praise and glorify the Lord, not only with our lips, but by reading the Bible every day and meditating on God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. We can’t fulfill God’s plans for us if we don’t listen to him and do our part; and that comes by reading the Bible along with prayer. Let us begin the journey without delay.
Psalm 119:97-99 – Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.
I recommend you use a new King James version (NKJV) of the Bible for the reading and studying of God’s Word. The editors of some of the newer international versions of the Bible have been known to change the wording of some Scriptures and omit others altogether. You know you’re getting the unfiltered word of God if you stick with the King James Bible. Make sure your Bible is tabbed by book because it’ll save you lots of time as you study God’s Word. We know that the Bible has 66 chapters. The Old Testament comes first and has 39 chapters followed by the New Testament which has 27 chapters. Your Bible is roughly three quarters Old Testament and one quarter New Testament. In my NKJV giant print Bible the Old Testament is 1295 pages long and the New Testament is 352 pages long.
Isaiah 33:6 – Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure.
Try to memorize the books of the Bible, their order and which testament they are in. The goal is to know the right testament and the general placement of each Bible book by category. We know that the Bible was written over a span of 1500 years. Moses wrote Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, around 1400 BC and the prophet Malachi wrote the last book of the Old Testament, that bears his name, around 400 BC. The Old Testament was written over a 1000 year period between 1400 BC and 400 BC. We know the 39 books of the Old Testament are broken up into categories.
1 Chronicles 22:19 – Now set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God.
The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy), also known as the law of Moses, was actually one continuous narrative. Due to the physical limitations of the scrolls they were written on they had to be broken up into five segments for manageability. The Pentateuch started with creation and chronicled God’s relationship with the Israelites, his chosen people, up to their entry into Canaan, the land God promised to give them.
Joshua 24:15 – Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me my house, we will serve the Lord.
The next Old Testament category is the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Ester). These books covered the Israelites conquest of Canaan up to the restoration of the Jews during the Persian period (400 BC). This is followed by the books of poetry and wisdom. The Psalms and Song of Solomon are considered poetry and Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are considered to be wisdom books. Wisdom is contained in every book of the Bible but is concentrated in these three books which are noted for the wisdom they contain.
Ecclesiastes 3:12 – I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Psalms expresses hymns and prayers to God and they touch on every emotion the believer encounters in life and how we are to deal with them. The Song of Solomon is a celebration of marriage and the love of a spouse. The book of Job is all about suffering and how we are to deal with it. Ecclesiastes deals with the meaning of life. Proverbs gives advice on moral issues and ordinary matters; written primarily to the young man so that his life will be successful and fulfilling.
Psalm 112:1 – Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.
The last section of the Old Testament is the sixteen books by the Prophets bearing their names. There is also the book of Lamentations, which has been attributed to Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet.” I won’t name all the prophets here; they are listed in the front of your Bible starting with Isaiah and ending with Malachi. Each prophet was chosen by God to speak to the people of Israel on his behalf. This was how God chose to communicate with his chosen people. Each prophet’s message from God was tailored to fit God’s plan and that particular time in the history of Israel. The enduring theme of the Old Testament is God’s love for man and the promise of Christ to save a fallen mankind.
Psalm 35:9 – And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation.
If the Old Testament is Christ promised then the New Testament is Christ fulfilled. It was written after the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the promised Messiah. The New Testament begins with the gospel of Matthew (although Mark was written first around 50 AD) and ends with the book of Revelation written around 95 AD. The New Testament starts with the four gospels and describes the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). This is followed by the book of Acts which describes the activities of the early Christian church. Then we have the 21 epistles (letters) from men of God that further interpret, clarify and reveal the truth of God to men. These chosen Bible writers were all Apostles and disciples of Christ. All of the New Testament writers were Jewish except for Luke, who was a Gentile. Luke wrote the gospel that bears his name along with the book of Acts which tells the story of the early Christian church.
Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
The last book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which is the prophecy about the end of time and the second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the earth on the last Day to punish the nations seeking to destroy Jerusalem and the Jewish people. At that time Jesus will come down from heaven and set foot on the Mount of Olives to judge all of mankind and and establish his millennial kingdom on the earth. Because of its importance, Revelation is given a category all by itself but in reality it’s just another epistle, written by the Apostle John shortly before his death in 95 AD. Knowing the categories of the Bible books and their general placement within the Bible makes it easy to open your Bible fairly close to the right spot. The more you study the Bible the more deft you become at locating Scriptures in your Bible.