Feeling overwhelmed by where to start when reading the Bible? You’re not alone! In this video, I will guide you step-by-step on how to choose the best starting point based on your goals and interests. Whether you’re new to the Bible or looking to deepen your understanding, I’ll break down simple and practical strategies to make your Bible study journey enjoyable and meaningful.
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I mentioned in the last episode that the Bible is a book. It isn’t just a book though, it’s also a collection of books—66 books to be exact. These books have been grouped together in categories.
- Law. There are the books of the law which are the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These 5 books are also referring to the Torah.
- Historical Books. Next are the history books. These are the very next set of books which start where Deuteronomy leaves off. These books start with the book of Joshua end with the book of Esther.
- Books of Wisdom. Next are the wisdom books. These are also sometimes referred to as the poetry books. These books contain poetry, wise sayings, and a lot of reflections on life and faith. The wisdom literature books are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs).
- The Prophets. Next are the books written by the prophets which are divided into two categories: There are the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets. These categories are based on the length of the prophetic books (not their level of importance). Remember this is all the Word of God, so all of it is important. These books were written by men who were chosen by God to be His mouthpiece during their time.
- Major prophets. The major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations is grouped in here as well because it is traditionally attributed to being written by the prophet Jeremiah. Ezekiel and Daniel conclude the major prophets.
- Minor prophets. The minor prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
- The Gospels. The next group are the Gospels. The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament which are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books outline the life, teachings, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. He is their focus.
- Acts of the Apostles. Next are the Acts of the Apostles. The book of Acts is the only book in this category. This book links the Gospels with the epistles. Some scholars group this book with the historical books of the New Testament, but I personally think this book can be in a category of its own. While it does a great job of providing the history of the early Church after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, it also features the working of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. So, it’s in a league of it’s own in my book.
- The Epistles. The next group are the epistles. The epistles are sometimes split into two categories as well. There are the Pauline epistles which were letters written by the Apostle Paul and the other epistles were letters written by other apostles and church leaders. The Epistles were written to different churches and church communities to provide insight, instruction, encouragement, practical advice, and warnings. The Pauline Epsitles are the book of Romans through Philemon and the other Epistles start with the book of Hebrews and end with the boo of Jude.
- Prophecy. The final category is prophecy which is where the book of Revelation is by itself..
Principles of Guidance
I learned these from Bible Teacher Derek Prince and I’m going to share them with you because I think it’s helpful to remember this. There are two types of guidance—general principles of guidance and special guidance.
- General principles of guidance apply in every situation where a Believer needs guidance. This means that it applies to all Believers at all times.
- Special guidance is guidance that God gives to a Believer in certain situations which might not apply to another Believer even if they are in the same situation.
General guidance comes to us primarily from one source which is scripture.
We have no right to expect special guidance if we reject general guidance. We can only qualify for special guidance if we are walking in the light of the guidance that God has made available to us through scripture.
So I’m gonna apply some general guidance to Bible reading and studying. In Galatians 5:25, NLT God tells us, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” This means that we should be led by the Holy Spirit when it comes to deciding where to start reading our Bibles. The Holy Spirit knows us intimately and He knows what we need to hear and when we need to hear it.
Deciding What to Read
So let’s talk about some things to consider when you are trying to decide what to read. I’m gonna spend a good amount of time here before we look at some things to consider when deciding what to study.
First, I want you to keep in mind that when you are reading, one of the things you are trying to do is get the story. The story you’re reading yes, but also the big picture story that God is conveying through His word. In order to do that, you want to pick a book that you can work your way through in its entirety. This is key when you are reading the Bible as opposed to studying it.
Now, if you don’t know where to start reading and you haven’t received any guidance from God on where to start, most people suggest starting with the Gospels which are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They recommend starting with the gospels because these books specifically and directly recount Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke details the life of Jesus in chronological order. But, because the narrative in the Gospels is easier to understand and flow through for most, this is where a lot of people recommend new readers start.
One of the beautiful things about the Gospels is that they each provide a different vantage point to the life of Jesus. I think Matthew is the most comprehensive and it helps us understand Mark better because it has more information. Luke’s vantage point is very detailed as well as his desire was to compile the events of Jesus’ life in an orderly sequence to provide order to the recount. He was a physician so he has a methodical approach to his recount. And John shares some things that none of the other gospels talk about as his objective was to reveal Jesus as the Messiah and God. In a nutshell though, the Gospels reveal Jesus.
With that being said, I think the Gospels are a great place to start too, BUT I want to offer some other options that speak more to your personality because after all, God is very personal. He really does speak to us individually in ways that resonate with us on a personal level.
If you like stories, high drama, violence, strategy, or war...
…then I actually recommend starting with the Old Testament. Specifically, Genesis through 2 Chronicles. Because you’re gonna get a good amount of that there. Most of my favorite stories are in the Old Testament. I’ll share some with you as we go.
If you are the type of reader who wants to really see God’s standards and glimpses of His heart and how he feels about things,
… then you may want to start with the prophets or the epistles which are letters that were written to the church, how we are righeous through Jesus, and how the Holy Spirit works through us..
If you love poetry and are deeply emotional...
…then maybe start with the Psalms.
If you are an analytical and logical thinker...
…then you may want to start with Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or Romans. Proverbs has short, logical wisdom-oriented sayings. Ecclesiastes is more of a philosophical and existential book that shows someone who is questioning the meaning of life. Romans has been called the constitution of the Church and has a lot of organized truths about different doctrines. There are some deep arguments in there as well.
If you lean more into your Creative and Imaginative side...
… then you may want to start with reading the book of Psalms, Song of Solomon, or even Revelation. Psalms is full of poetry, deep emotion, and reflections on God and life. Song of Solomon is very artistic, expressive, and rich in imagery, including sexual imagery. Most people would not recommend starting with the book of Revelation because it has a lot of symbolism, but I don’t put limits on God and how He chooses to speak to His children. There may be some people who start reading there and encounter God through all of the visions and how they engage their imagination around what God is revealing in this book.
If you are Action-Oriented and Adventurous...
…then Joshua, Judges, Acts, or Nehemiah may be where you want to start. Joshua deals a lot with conquest, leadership, action and battle. There are A LOT of great stories in Joshua like the battle of Ai and the day the sun stood still at the command of Joshua. The book of Judges has dramatic stories of warriors and leaders. We see Gideon, the mighty warrior, the tragedy of Samson and Delilah, and the woman who single handly killed an army commander with a tent peg. It’s wild! The book of Acts is fast-paced and is about that action okay! There is a lot of supernatural activity in that book. The book of Nehemiah has themes of leadership and problem-solving in action.
For the Nurturing and Compassionate reader...
…you may want to start with Ruth, Esther, Luke, James or Phillipians. Ruth has themes of loyalty and love. Esther and some other prominent people in that book face some heart-wrenching challenges and God’s divine providence is on full display even though God is not mentioned directly in the entire book. The book of Luke places some emphasis on Jesus’ compassion and His care for marginalized people. The book of James provides a lot of practical wisdom for caring for others. Philippians has warm encouragement elements to it. It is the book of joy.
For the Practical and Duty-Oriented reader...
you may want to start with Leviticus, Numbers, Proverbs, Ezekiel, or 1 & 2 Timothy. Leviticus has a lot of order, rules, system, and structure in it. Numbers has a lot of record-keeping, law, and organizational history. I to offer this, if you start with one of the books of the law, make sure you have an understanding of what has already gone down up to that point, because you are essentially picking up in the middle of things that are going on in the text.
But the book of Numbers has two of my absolute favorite Bible stories which are when the earth open up and swallowed some people and their homes as a form of judgment, basically sending them straight to hell without dying. This story highlights just how much our God is a God of order.
Proverbs is good for practical and duty-oriented readers because it has a lot of practical and clear advice for everyday living. 1 & 2 Timothy has guidance about leadership, structure, faithfulness, and how to do Church God’s way. Fun fact, it was verses in 2 Timothy that God used to call me into ministry back in 2020.
I was originally going to stop here, but I cannot leave this next group out.
If you are a lover of justice and righteous judgment,
then you may want to start with Judges, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. The book of Judges shows what happens to a people when they stop following God and do not live by his standards.
Daniel primarily focuses on the sovereignty of God over earthly kingdoms, but it also touches on judgment, particularly in relation to the fate of those who oppose God’s kingdom. When judgment is coming down in Daniel it is NO joke. Daniel is my personal favorite book of the Bible and it has my all-time favorite story which is about the writing on the wall. Did you know the concept of “the writing on the wall” came from scripture?
The book of Isaiah fits with justice and judgment as well because it has scriptures that deal with God’s judgment on the nations, and the book of Jeremiah sheds light on God’s righteous judgment of Judah.
Alright, now that you have which book you are going to start reading, here are some practice pointers. Whenever you start a book in the Bible it is important that before you begin you establish context.
Context
Here are some tips for establishing context.
- First, find out who wrote the book. The human writer that is. If you have a study Bible, they usually provide this information before the book begins. Otherwise, a lot of times the author of the book reveals themselves in the first few verses of the first chapter of the book. If neither of these are true, then you will have to do some research and digging to find out the author.
- Once you know who physically wrote the book you are about to read, you then want to find out who they were writing to. Like who was their intended audience.
- Finally, what was the intended message to that intended audience
Here are some questions to ask as you read:
- What does what I read reveal about God?
- What does this teach me about how I should live?
- What does it reveal about Jesus?
- Why was it important for the Holy Spirit to have the writer include these things?
I want to encourage you to also annotate, annotate, annotate as you go. Make notes of the revelations God gives you as you read. Find a consistent reading schedule and stick to it. Something that helps me is going back to read a little of what I read the day before as a refresher. Let me know how it goes once you start!
Alright, now it’s time for us to look at some things that can help us decide what to study in the Bible.
Deciding What to Study
Studying is very different from reading because while reading involves you reading books all the way through, studying will inevitably require some jumping around.
If you already have a study method that is working for you, then feel free to stick with it. There is no pressure to change it. But, if you want or need some guidance in this area then this portion is for you. Deciding what to study can seem daunting and overwhelming but I promise it isn’t at all.
I used to just study verses at a time but in 2023, God began speaking to me about some things that I was supposed to do and while I had heard the words He used before, I didn’t really understand them. Because I needed more insight on these topics, I did a topical bible study for the first time. Since then, this is where I have spent a lot of my studying over the past few years. My niece did a mini study of the book of Esther and that was really good. I have yet to do a study of a book but I will eventually.
When you are trying to decide what to study, here’s a filter I learned during a leadership training with my lead pastor a few years ago. You can choose what to study based on your appetite, your ailment, or your assignment.
- Appetite. Your appetite is based on your personal desires. What do you have a craving to explore in God’s word? This isn’t anything God has necessarily led you to. It’s simply based on what you’re feeling in that moment. There are endless topics to study in the Bible. It can be faith, parenting, finances, leadership, angels, deliverance, etc.
- Ailment. Another way to decide what to study is based on your ailment. An ailment is a pain point or a struggle that you are having. If you are stressed, worried, experiencing poverty, in need of healing, or anything you can think of—you can study scriptures that speak to that specific ailment.
- Assignment. The final method you can use to decide what to study is by studying topics based on your assignment. This isn’t you selecting the topic. This is selecting a topic based on an assignment God gave you or an assignment God has for you. At the end of 2022, the Holy Spirit led me to study God’s demonstration of power on earth. I had no idea why but I did a deep dive and created a condensed outline on the topic so that I can study and grow in that area and I have been growing in it by quantum leaps.
That’s all to it. Those are three really good filters that you can use when deciding what to study. It makes the study process that much easier.
Want More?
If you enjoyed this episode, then you may also enjoy the episode of the show about the difference between reading the Bible and studying it or this episode detailing how to achieve Godly success.
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