The bible reads you as you read it - Derrick Prince

I was born again at aged 14 and I’m 51 now.

Yet I find reading the bible hard most of the time . I’ve never understood that contradiction better than when, in a the middle of a sermon about anything else , Derrick Prince said :

‘I often wonder why truly born again Christians find reading the bible such a chore, such a hard thing to schedule .

I can only conclude that the soul that knows it is not obeying the guidance of its’ father , is like a child who knows it’s done wrong and doesn’t want to admit it. Even though it knows its father only wanted the best for it’

We instinctively feel the love but also the eyes of God upon us as soon as we read His word. To everyone else it’s just text on a page.

The devil hates God's word. He will put us off anyway he can. Pray and bind Satan first. Ask God to open your eyes to see what His word means to you.

Wow! I did not convert until I was almost 50...
Yes, reading can be tedious, but have you ever tried listening to it?

Or reading in a group from various versions which you then compare?

That can generate some stimulating conversations...

People struggle with finding time to read His word because it's not their number one priority. Make God number one; organize your life around Him and His word, not vice versa; then, it will be a joy to spend time with Him in His word.

Another issue these days is the importance of His word is being diminished. Why read and study His word when it's not that critical? All a person needs is a good jolt from the Holy Spirit, right?

Perhaps reading the Bible would be more motivating if folks began with the most edifying parts and had a modern English Bible with good footnotes, such as the NIV Study Bible.

Also, I would recommend reading the gospel of Matthew first (underlining 4:4&7 and 22:37-40), followed by Paul's epistle of Ephesians (underlining 4:11-16), and then Genesis 1, Psalm 119, 2TM 3 (underlining v.14-17) and HB 7:18-10:1.

(That oughta be a good jumpstart! :^)

There is no great spiritual mystery to it, people just hate to admit the truth. They find it boring because its the same verses over and over again and they have already heard it all.

As someone who has read the Bible many times from cover to cover, my advice is:

Don't just pick up and start reading somewhere randomly, but what I like to do is study a particular topic. Lets say I want to study the atonement, I will look up all the verses about it from the OT and NT, and form a doctrine based on that. That is interesting and thats what keeps me reading the Bible.

I also read a random chapter a day based on "The word of the day" which is an app that I have, it has a daily verse and I read the entire chapter it provides.

Lots of stuff being said here.

And I get it.....
Reading your Bible is not entertaining for most people.

It's at least 2,000 to 6,000 year old literature written in a completely alien language in an alien culture. The context is lost on us today without a graduate level degree in Ancient Near East anthropology and history.
Then there's the spiritual aspect of the Book belonging to God....
And you have a lifetime of living life as someone who wasn't a preacher/missionary.

Guess what?
God doesn't care who you have been, He cares about who you are right now. Apologize for the "who you have been" and do better. You know right from wrong and the more you make efforts in that sort of lifestyle....you will be happier with the results as well as see what still needs work.
And you have been....which is why you are trying to read the Bible.

What you need is a men's group. They, like you, will have issues reading. But together you guys can get the meaning of what it says....and you get to make some friends in your community along the way.

And these guys will be just like your grade school friends/classmates. Sports nuts, Hunting freaks, car nerds, book nerds and geeks and odd ducks. (And more)

But....
Between the lot of you....encouraging each other and helping with understanding the "reading" is easy. And more importantly you are actually doing instead of just reading....which is what Jesus prized over the reading. He said it many times in many ways.