What Can I Do to Enjoy Reading My Bible More?

What can we do when Bible reading feels more like a duty than a delight? Today, Ken Jones reflects on how Christians may approach Scripture in a way that rekindles joy and devotion.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: We’re joined this week on the Ask Ligonier podcast by Pastor Ken Jones who serves at Glendale Missionary Baptist Church in Miami. Pastor Jones, what advice do you have for a Christian to help them enjoy reading their Bible more?

REV. KEN JONES: Number one, let me begin by saying I appreciate the nuance of enjoying reading the Bible. And that resonates with me, particularly as a minister of the gospel, because I think there are two dimensions of duty that can cause us to forget that reading the Bible can and should be enjoyable—maybe not enjoyable in the way that we would enjoy a good movie, but there’s something pleasurable about it.

And those two things are, number one, the duty of, just as a Christian, my duty as a disciple that I know I should be reading my Bible. Anyone who is a Christian—even if you’re just a layperson—you need to read your Bible. You need to read your Bible. And sometimes we can get into that habit of reading the Bible because we know we should, but we’re doing what we should and diminishing the fact that it should be an enjoyable thing.

But secondly, and another dimension—as a pastor and as a preacher, obviously we are called to the vocation of serving the church, which means preaching and teaching from the Word. So, therefore, we continuously, for instance, myself—I teach, I preach once a week at least and teach at least three times a week. So, that means I’m reading my Bible, and sometimes I can be so caught up in the duty of preaching and teaching that, again, I forget the delight or the joy of reading the Word.

So, whether it’s from the standpoint of just individual discipleship, where I know it’s my duty to read God’s Word, as David says, “I’ve hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You,” so obviously there are advantages that come from that discipleship duty, and if I’m a minister of the Word, then I should, obviously, spend time in the Word. But in either one of those capacities, we can overlook the fact that it’s a delight.

So here’s my response to that: How can I continue to enjoy reading the Bible? How can I enjoy it? By remembering, number one, its ultimate source. The Bible is God’s Word to us. So, it’s the Word of our loving, gracious, heavenly Father. And if you couple reading God’s Word with the privilege of prayer, then I think that can help us remember it’s a pleasurable thing because, in prayer, we have the privilege of speaking to the sovereign Creator and Ruler of the universe, who happens to be our heavenly Father. So, when we read, when we pray, we are communicating, it’s us talking to Him. But when we read His Word, it’s that same sovereign, holy loving, God, Creator, Sustainer of the universe, who happens to be our heavenly Father, who’s now speaking to us. So, remembering the source of what we’re reading, that this is God’s Word to us.

And then secondly, remembering, ultimately, no matter what portion of the Scripture we’re reading from—whether it’s devotional, whether you’re studying an Old Testament—the ultimate purpose of God’s Word to us is to reveal His covenant commitment and love to us. So, even if I’m reading heavy portions of law, remembering that this is the Word of my heavenly Father, ultimately to reveal His great love to me, that helps me enjoy what I’m doing.