Called to a relationship

In this article, we are going to look at the first of these four parts of following Jesus – our calling to a relationship with God – what our relationship with God is all about and how to have a relationship with God that is personal, close and vital. And as part of that, we shall look at the first practice that is fundamental to knowing God – engaging with the Bible. To do that, we are going to look at the what, the why and the how.

What is engaging with the Bible?

What is the Bible?

So first, let’s look at what we mean by engaging with the Bible. The Bible bit is easy. It is what we believe is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). It is a book that has two main parts – the Old and the New Testament – and is made up of 66 books that take a range of styles. They include books of history, law, songs or poems, prophecy, biographies of the life of Jesus and the first disciples, and letters.

What does it mean to engage with the Bible?

The Bible then is a book or group of books. And like any other book, we can engage with it in different ways. We engage with textbooks mainly with our minds. For example, reading the periodical table in a chemistry book may engage our minds. But for most of us, it will have little impact on our emotions. Or a manual that tells us how to build a computer may engage our minds and our hands but again is unlikely to have a deep emotional impact.

It is possible to engage with the Bible in the same way. We can read about the history of Israel or the life of Jesus and the early church without engaging with much more than our minds. We may get an understanding of what it says. But it doesn’t touch our emotions or change what we do. Or sometimes we can approach the Bible as a sort of manual for life. We engage with our brain and find out what we should do. But we can do that with little impact on how we feel.

But is that how we should engage with the Bible? Is it like a textbook where we learn lots of interesting facts about God or the history of the Jewish people or the life of Jesus? Or is it like a manual where we learn what we should do?

Importantly for what we are looking at in this article, the Bible is completely different to any other book you have read or heard. It does contain lots of interesting facts. And it does give us instructions for how we should live. But underlying all of what is written in the Bible is an amazing message - God’s love for us (John 3:16). All the facts point to this message. And of all the instructions spring from the same message. It is a message that should not just interest our minds and drive our actions. It should profoundly touch our hearts.

So, when we talk about engaging with the Bible in this article, it means putting in place practices that help us to engage with the Bible in a way that does all these things - it informs our minds, fills our hearts and overflows into action. Engaging with the Bible is not about being informed. It is about being transformed.

Why engage with the Bible?

The Bible equips us to do good

So that is the what about engaging with the Bible. But what about the why? There are so many good books to read. So many interesting shows to watch. Why should we set aside time to engage with the Bible?

There are many reasons. One is that the Bible equips us to live as a disciple. We are told that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). What is the end result or intended aim of those good things that Scripture can do? - so “that the person of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:17) If we want to be equipped to be the best teacher or plumber or accountant that we can, we study and read books to learn what that looks like. In very much the same way, the Bible is there to equip us as apprentices to Jesus. And part of living as a follower of Jesus is working for good in the people around us. The Bible equips us to know what that good looks like.

Not only does the Bible teach us and train us to know what a good life looks like, but it helps us to grow in our ability to do that. We are urged to move past being children in our faith. To become adults. To become mature (Hebrews 5:11-14). The Bible doesn’t just help us to know what goodness looks. It helps us to grow in our ability to do good.

The Bible helps us to grow in our relationship with God

But the Bible is not just there to teach us and train us to do good. As we looked at, the Bible is much, much more than a manual for the good life.

Another reason for engaging with the Bible is that the Bible is the chief way that we get to know God. But that raises a question. What does it mean to know God? We use the word “know” in different ways. Most of the time, we use the word to indicate that we have learned something - like a fact or a skill. For example, I know that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. Or I know how to ride a bicycle. That means that knowing God can sound as though it is just about knowing facts about God.

But importantly for what we are exploring here, knowing has other layers. When we know something or someone deeply, knowing becomes more than just a set of facts – it becomes an experience.

Friends of mine have visited Ningaloo Reef off the coast of West Australia. At Ningaloo, there are whale sharks that swim past the reef every year. These whale sharks are amongst some of the amazing animals on the planet. They grow up to 18 metres long with mouths that are over a metre wide. Over their enormous bodies they have beautiful markings of white and grey. My friends snorkelled and swam close to the whale sharks. They described it as one of the incredible experiences of their life – swimming alongside these stunning, majestic animals filled them with a sense of wonder and awe.

Their experience helps me to understand what it is to know God. You can study all you like and know the dimensions, the migration pattern and the diet of these amazing animals. But learning these facts doesn’t have the same impact as swimming alongside them. It is then that you are fully struck with the greatness and the beauty of these creatures. Similarly, God calls us to know Him in a similar way. He invites us to dive down and swim alongside Him and to soak in the wonder of what He is like.

But in knowing and experiencing God, there is one aspect of God that goes far deeper than awe and wonder. We can be amazed and awestruck by the beauty of whale sharks and the grandeur of the universe in the sky above us at night. And we can filled with awe at the complexity of the human brain. But there is a huge and even incredible difference in the way that we relate to these things and the way that we relate to God – God also relates to us.

That is the amazing fact of the gospel. That God, the creator of the universe, calls and invites us into a relationship with Him (Isaiah 55:1-3; Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew 11:28-30). Why? Because he loves us. And delights in us. Hard as that may be to believe sometimes, that is at the heart of the gospel because it is the heart of God. God is love (1 John 4:8). And not just some sort of vague, impersonal love but a love that is directed personally at you and me. Ultimately the Bible is a love story.

We can be so aware of our faults and failures, and we can be so bruised and hurt by life that it can be a hard message to fully take in. For some it can take a lifetime to fully appreciate the love and delight that God has for us. Not just as a fact that we know in our heads. But as something in our hearts that we experience and feel. But that is the kind of relationship that God calls us to. A relationship that grows in depth and closeness as we come to appreciate the height and the depth and the breadth of the love that God has for us. There are many things that we learn about God, but this is central to all. The more we soak in the love that is there on the pages, the more we will become the people God wants us to be.

So, the question becomes – do I want a relationship with God that is vital and close and sustaining? Do I want to be growing and changing in character and Christlikeness. Do I want to have a ministry that comes from a place of strength and enjoyment? If the answer to any or all of these things is yes, then engaging with the Bible is a foundational practice that God will use to make us that person.

Does that mean that knowing God is all about a feel-good experience? Not at all. It is intensely practical. Like a person who loves someone deeply and knows that they are loved, that experience overflows in thankfulness and love toward others. But it is not just from dutiful obedience from being told what we should do. It is the overflow of a relationship where we know that we are truly and deeply loved.

How do we engage with the Bible?

Building a foundation

How then can we engage with the Bible? There are various ways. If you attend a church, you will hear the Bible read and preached. Listening is a key way of engaging with the Bible.

But the practice that we will focus on in this article is Bible reading. Reading is another key way to engage with the Bible that all of us can practice. Having a regular time reading the Bible can become a foundation stone for a lifetime of deepening in our relationship with God and growing as a follower of Jesus.

First, we will look at one approach for making Bible reading a regular habit. Then, for those who have been doing this for some time and already familiar with the practice of Bible reading, we will look at ways to keep Bible reading fresh. And if that is all going well and you are happy with your practice of Bible reading, we will look at other helpful practices of engaging with the Bible that you may like to consider.

First though, let’s look at the practice of Bible reading.

The first step is to put aside a time. If you are just starting out, a good length of time is to set aside five minutes. And to aim to do this five times a week. Many people also find it helpful to set aside a certain time during the day. First thing in the morning is often a good time because it is quieter, there are less distractions and our minds are more likely to be fresh. However, for some people, evenings work better. The time of day is not important. It is more finding a time where you can be consistent and regular and feel that it is the best time to meet with God.

The second step is to figure out what you are going to do. If you are not sure how to dive in, there are several ways to do this. You can start at the beginning of the New Testament and just read one chapter a day. Five minutes will be enough time to read a chapter. If you do this five times a week, you will cover the whole of the New Testament in one year.

Or, if you want to be more systematic, you can use a Bible reading plan. There are apps that contain a number of plans to guide you through reading the New Testament or both Old and New Testaments. Several of these can be found in the Additional Resources section of the website.

Feel free to try out different Bible reading approaches to see what works best for you. And even when you are settled on one, feel free to mix it up and try others from time to time, especially if the method you are using starts to feel stale.

The third step is finding a way to engage with the Bible as we read it. There are a number of ways that people use. But to get you started, here is a tool that is simple but can allow you to go as deep as you want – the 3 Rs - Read, Reflect, Respond.