The Bible - Where to Start

The Bible is a collection of writings (letters, stories, prayers…), that are inspired by God. It is a collection of 66 writings, or what we call, ‘books’. So we say, there are 66 books in the Bible.

The Bible was written by different people (prophets, followers of Jesus, etc.), over a period of about 1500 years.

The first part of the Bible has 39 books in it, all written before Jesus was born. This first section of the Bible is called the ‘Old Testament’. The second part of the Bible has 27 books in it, and was written after Jesus was born and had lived his life. This second section of the Bible is called the ‘New Testament’.

The Bible is how we know about God, and his truth. The Bible is how we learn about Jesus.

Here is what I recommend:

1. Buy a Bible: Try to find a version that is ‘good’ and clear. I recommend the ‘NIV’ version or the ‘ESV’ version.
2. Read 1 chapter a day: Start with the book of ‘Matthew’. Read one chapter a day, maybe 5 days a week if you can. Try to find a time of the day that works for you (maybe 15 minutes before work, with a nice cup of coffee?), and just read a chapter, and then spend a few minutes sitting quietly, eyes closed, praying. Praying is just ‘being’ with Jesus, whispering your thoughts to him, and listening to his voice, feeling his comfort.

Also, here is how you ‘look up’ a specific Bible verse. When you see a ‘reference’, for example, ‘John 3:16’, this is what it means. It means the book of ‘John’, chapter 3, verse 16. So you look up ‘John’ in the index, and flick to that book. Then just find chapter 3, and look down through that chapter till you see verse number 16!

‘All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

*This is an excerpt from the booklet, 'First Steps', which is free in PDF format on this website: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html

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