How do you come to know the Bible? And, more importantly, how do you come to love your Bible? In his very brief and accessible new book, “How to Eat Your Bible”, Pastor Nate Pickowicz offers a helpful introduction to God’s word for every believer. This book will be especially helpful to new Christians, but it will also benefit older believers who have struggled to develop a habit of feeding their souls on all of Scripture as opposed to just a devotional nugget or verse taken in isolation.
Setting the Table
The most helpful part of the book may be the introduction, especially Pickowicz’ discussion of the transforming power of God’s word. First, the Bible changes your spirit by saving you through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It changes your mind, giving knowledge of the truth and training you to think in biblical categories. It changes your emotions by causing you to love God and his word and experience godly sorrow over your sin. And finally, it changes your will by cleansing you spiritually and producing a lifestyle of worship and obedience to God’s commands.
Jesus said that man must live not by bread alone but by the very words of God. We all know we should read the Bible and love it, but our actions often reveal much less enthusiasm than we would care to admit. How will this change? Not by a New Year’s resolution per se, but by the power of God working through his word as we feed on it.
Starving for the Word
In the first chapter Pickowicz argues that while we have greater access to God’s word in this digital age than at any point in human history, we are currently suffering from an epidemic of biblical illiteracy. And this is not just true among the greater population of mostly pagan Americans, it is sadly true of many in the church. How can it be resolved? Instead of just diving in and trying to read the Bible through in a year (a good and helpful practice that many Christians have tried and found too aggressive to maintain past about the middle of Leviticus), Pickowicz suggests we take a longer view. He proposes a seven year reading plan, that will allow us to study God’s word in greater depth and with less of a sense of urgency to “get it all in”.
I think the idea is a helpful one, and the plan that is laid out in this book will certainly give you a healthy grasp of Scripture if you put it to use. Of course, it is not the only workable solution, but it may serve you well if you are just starting out trying to develop a habit of Bible reading/study. It may also be beneficial if you feel as though you have gotten into a bit of slump when it comes to reading and studying the Bible. A change of pace like this may be just the ticket to jump start your desire for God’s word.
Beginning with Prayer
Since the Bible is the very word of God, it requires more than simply an intellectual approach. We need spiritual insight in order to understand and apply it to our lives. So what should we do first? We should pray. We should pray for understanding, that God would give us insight through the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we read his word. We should pray for wisdom to rightly apply his word to our lives and our unique circumstances. We should pray for an increased desire for God and his word. We should pray for a sense of joy as we come to meet God in his word. And we should pray for God’s word to change our hearts and lives. These are the kinds of prayers that God will most certainly answer, when we pray them sincerely.
Read: What Does It Say?
My kids love to point out the book on my shelf by Mortimer J. Adler, “How to Read a Book”. They laugh at the apparent conundrum of having to read a book to learn how to read a book. But the plain truth is that most of us are not very good readers, not because we lack intelligence or ability but because we are careless and unprepared. In his third chapter Pickowicz encourages us to make a plan and follow some helpful guidelines and strategies as we read the Bible. These include things such as scheduling time to read and finding a quite place away from distractions, as well as learning to make good observations and meditating on the things we read. All of these points are practical, helpful, and wise.
Study: What Does It Mean?
This chapter is quite brief, and it offers only a small glimpse at a titanic subject. Entire volumes are written about hermeneutical strategies, and “How to Eat Your Bible” doesn’t try to do too much here. But there are some basic principles which help us to avoid common mistakes as we delve deeper into the word of God. Especially helpful here is the section entitled “Errors to Avoid” which includes reading into the text something that is not there, looking for a deeper meaning than is actually found in the text, and making ourselves the focus of the Scriptures. Even seasoned pastors and theologians are not immune from these mistakes, and we would do well to pay heed to his warning.
Use: How Do I Apply It?
When it comes to application, most of us tend to think in terms of doing, as in, “What should I do today in light of this passage?” I really appreciate the emphasis in this chapter on application as both knowing and doing. Some Bible texts do not contain any instructions on how to live or a sin from which to turn, but rather teach us what we ought to know about God or how we ought to think according to the truth. So rather than straining to make something fit our situation, we need to submit to the authority of God’s word with our minds as well as our bodies. This is how we may know Christ and bring him glory, which is, after all, the purpose of studying God’s word.
Eat Up!
The last chapter is really just a call to action leading to the appendix which explains the seven year Bible reading plan in greater detail. Whatever else we do, it is not enough just to read a book about eating our Bibles, we must actually take them up and dig in. If you are struggling to really know and understand God’s word, or if you simply feel like you could use a refresher on some Bible basics, I would encourage you to pick up Nate Pickowicz’ helpful volume and start out the New Year learning to love God’s word. It will pay eternal dividends.