SPEED-READING YOUR BIBLE ~ Precious Victor Akah

Speed-reading is an act practiced by a vast number of readers, bookworms, students, scholars, and intellectuals in our day.

To speed-read is to read faster than normal, especially by acquired techniques of skimming and controlled eye movements. With this, one can read a book within an hour or less.

Now, as good as this is, I personally do not think it should be applied when studying or reading the Bible for personal and spiritual growth. Unfortunately, a lot of people practice speed-reading when reading the Bible. What we're forgetting is that, the Holy Bible is not a book you read to brag about how knowledgeable you are about its content, but it is God's Word given to us to guide our daily living.

You're not in a competition with anyone when reading your Bible in your room, alone, so why speed-read? You have your whole life to read and study the Bible over and over and over again, so why speed-read? Even if you put yourself under an obligation to read a chapter of the Bible daily, speed-reading is not the way to do it faithfully; plan your day well, wake up early, plan your time, set alarm if you have to, and you'll be able to fulfil your daily obligation of reading a chapter of the Bible every morning or before bed without having to speed-read.

When you speed-read the Bible, you often miss out on a lot of things: no time to meditate and receive a personal word from God concerning your life or present situation; no time to look at other translations of the Bible to thoroughly and perfectly understand a verse or a chapter you just read; no time to check meanings of words and phrases you don't understand; no time to ask the Holy Spirit questions on what you need clarity on; and no time to memorize and commit to heart what you just read. Your one and only goal is to FINISH a chapter or simply have it in record that you read your Bible daily.

When having a personal Bible study, don't speed-read just so you could brag about reading 1, 5 or 10 chapters daily. We don't read the Bible for reading sake. We read the Bible to be transformed by it. We read the Bible for our actions, behavior, attitude, speech and character to be modified and positively influenced by it. We read the Bible so we can know, understand and do what the will of God is on earth and is in our lives.

Read the Bible calmly and meditatively, taking it one verse at a time, and understanding what you read. The only way you can apply what you read is if you understand what you read. So if you're not applying what you have been reading from the Bible, you probably haven't been understanding what you're reading, so, it is time to read with the aim to understand, so you can apply what you read to your life.

And when you don't understand a verse, a word, or chapter, check what other translations of the Bible are saying: like Good News Translation, Easy to Read Version, Amplified Bible, The Passion Translation, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, The Message Translation etc.

This is how you read and understand the Bible, in addition to the understanding, explanation, insight or revelation the Holy Spirit gives you while reading.

Pick up your Bible and read now if you haven't read it today, and make it a daily habit to read your Bible. The Bible is honestly sweet to read, you'll only know this when you start reading and studying the Bible.

For a start, it is better to read a verse or a chapter daily that you understand and apply to your life, than to speed-read 5 chapters daily without understanding and practicing what you read.

Being a doer is much more important and blessed than being a reader, even though you are to be both a reader and a doer of the Word of God.

"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves." James 1:22

Shalom.

PS: You can always reach out to us via email: preciouscphilip@gmail.com or on Facebook @ Precious Victor Akah

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