Getting What You Need to Grow from the Bible

Here’s something to try this month as you read the Old and New Testaments. Take a minute to jot down the theme of each chapter you have just read. I do this right in my Bible at the beginning of the chapter. (I have The Inductive Study Bible that has blanks at the beginning of each chapter, as well as wide margins, for writing notes.) If you don’t like to write in your Bible you could use a 3x5 card or folded piece of notebook paper as a bookmark and write down chapter themes on it.

I have been jotting down the theme of each Psalm I read this month. It is amazing to me how the simple act of having to write down a few words—not even a full sentence in most cases—forces me to really think through what I have been reading. It makes me think about what the words meant to the original writer and what they mean for my own Christian life today.

If you are having trouble figuring out the theme of the chapter you are reading, ask yourself some of the following: Does this chapter tell me something about what God is like? Does this chapter tell me something about God’s promises or His Word? Does this chapter tell me something I should do if I want to live a life that pleases God? Does this chapter tell me something I should not do? If I were placed in the situation described by this chapter, how would God want me to act?

To go back to the azalea analogy I used a couple days ago, taking time to distill what you are reading down to a theme is a way of making sure you are digging your roots deep into the soil and drawing up the nutrients you need rather than slowly starving while everything you need to grow is right there within reach.

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