If you are anything like me, in your walk with God, bible reading is one of those disciplines that you have struggled with and yet you know it is one which is of utmost importance. Either you do not make time to read it or you do make time but when you read it, it makes no sense…failing to understand what is being communicated except of course for the great stories and miracles in the gospels which are really cool.

KB in his song ‘here we go’ from the album weight and glory makes a prayer that resonated with me when I heard it. It simply said,

Lord, I want to see beauty in your scriptures and not gibberish in this missing…

Many times I sat to read the word and left disheartened because I felt nothing and it became a difficult discipline to cultivate. And yet the two disciples say that their hearts burned when Jesus talked to them about the scriptures. I have come to know and believe that the reading of the bible ought to cause our hearts to burn with excitement and the enemy has caused many believers to give up before they experienced this excitement in the scriptures.

If Jesus truly is your Lord and Savior, the lover of your soul, the one you have given your heart to; and the entire bible is about him, then why is it so difficult to enjoy scripture reading? It ought to be an even more enriching conversation than what you have with that guy that you really really like, that causes your heart to burn with passion.

The bible is the modern-day Christian’s platform to see, to hear and to know Jesus Christ on a personal level; it is our opportunity to become a witness of Jesus just like the disciples who walked with him did. When we read the scriptures Jesus comes alive and it is his wish that we would have fellowship with him and with his Father when reading the word. To be in fellowship is to share deep thoughts and intimate moments with people who have common interests. Jesus Christ wants to share deep thoughts with you and he wants to hear your deep thoughts. In the word the secrets of eternity are revealed and Jesus wants you to be a part of that, he wants to show you those secrets…it’s no wonder their hearts burned when he talked to them.

Even when I struggled with scripture reading, there was always that voice in my conscience that told me everything I was looking for was in the bible. I am chronic reader and so I find myself reading all manner of things but that voice would always tell me that thing I was looking for in all those books I could find in the bible but for a long time I ignored that voice. One day I decided to give it another go, I was going to take it one day at a time, giving the bible an opportunity to form and renew my thinking; and God has been faithful, today I can testify that bible reading has become a joy and I can say like the disciples

‘Did not my heart burn when He opened the scriptures to me?’

A couple of things that have absolutely worked for me in scripture reading are:

• To read with a notebook; Its Jon Courson who asks, if you knew that you had a one hour meeting with Donald Trump or some other billionaire entrepreneur who was going to talk to you and mentor you, would you go to him empty handed, i.e. without a note book. If you are looking to glean from him then you would want to write everything he said lest you go home and forget. When you go to meet with God, do you expect him to say something to you? If you knew He was going to reveal to you eternity’s secret you would carry the biggest notebook with you. Expect him to speak to you and He will speak to you.
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• Hold a conversation with Jesus as you read the bible, he talks to you and you talk to him. It ought to be a back and forth communication, like you would talk to a friend or that guy that you really really like. Read a scripture and pray it in, especially if it speaks to a particular situation in your life, and as you do that Jesus speaks back with an answer to your prayer. It’s beautiful. It’s communion. It’s fellowship.
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• Before reading the bible, ask the Holy Spirit to give you divine understanding because you cannot understand spiritual things with your physical mind (John 14:26). When I read and come across the ‘gibberish’, I stop and I ask for revelation and the Holy Spirit will give it. It may mean you read it again and again; take time to consider it, to chew on it, to meditate upon it but rest assured that He will teach you because Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us all things.
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• And finally, find some people to study the bible with. You see, I have come to learn that Jesus always shows up when people are talking about him; as the bible says that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in their midst. Consider the two disciples again, walking and talking about Jesus and all that had transpired in the past couple of days when Jesus shows up he asks; ‘What are you guys talking about?’ He knew what they were talking about. They were talking about him; they were discussing him. Again when the two go looking for the eleven apostles, they find them and begin to testify about their experience with Jesus and as they do this, Jesus shows up to all of them and says ‘Shalom.’ This is Hebrew for ‘Hi guys. What’s happening?’
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• Find a place where people are talking about him and you will find that He is there too and will do for you what He did for the apostles. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45). This is why we do what we do at The Saturday PM, it is our prayer that as we open up the scriptures to Nairobi, Jesus Christ through the unction of the Holy Spirit will open our minds to understand the scriptures and that we will create a community of people who Learn the word, Love the word and Live the word. Join us; you want to be a part of this community.