Fit Soul Chapter 11 - How to Read the Most Important Book in the World

Hey, I'm Ben Greenfield. Welcome to fit soul chapter 11. Every week I am releasing to you a brand new chapter from my book Fit Soul, which you can also read for free at fitsoulbook.com that's a fitsoulbook.com both a digital and a physical version are available to you. We are in chapter 11 chapter 11 how to read the Most Important Book in the World the Bible is the most important book in my own personal library, bar none. As a matter of fact, I'd say the Bible is the most important book of all time. Just think about it. It's an eyewitness account of historical events so significant they literally shape the entire western world and a great deal of the eastern world. A large percentage of people who have ever lived on this planet consider it to not only be a record of several of the most important events ever recorded, but a source of absolute truth and morality upon which families, communities, cities and even countries can be built. The events recorded in the Bible have generated more great works of art than any other book in the history of the world. Because of the Bible, countless hospitals have been built, millions upon millions of humans nourished and clothed, orphanages founded, slavery is ended, and communities healed. As Daniel P. Butafuko points out in his book five Reasons why the Bible is the most important book you'll ever read, the Bible is one of the most published books in the history of the world, having been printed in nearly every known language and also being named the world's greatest bestseller year after year. Indeed, it was the first book ever used on the printing press, and Johannes Gutenberg, who printed the very first Bible, was even voted as the most important man to have ever lived within the past 1,000 years. Despite being banned or illegal in 52 countries, the Bible is still widely demanded even in those regions of the world where it is a crime to distribute or possess it. For centuries, people have died tortuous deaths and lost their freedom for printing or even attempting to gain access to the wisdom contained within the Bible. It's also the most copied book of antiquity. Although the Bible is written over a time period of some 1500 years and completed approximately 2000 years ago, none of its contents have ever been found or proven to be inaccurate. Buttafuoco points out that the Bible is surpassingly accurate to the smallest details. Its contents, as translated, are as close to the original words of the authors as humanly possible. Only a few words of the entire book, a tiny, insignificant percentage, are in any doubt as to the original words, and none of the disputed text affects the message of the book. Additionally, new discoveries of previously unknown ancient manuscripts scripts continue to provide ever greater accuracy to the content of this book. It has been sifted, studied, commentated upon and dissected more than any other book in history. Volumes of books have been written about it and if they were stacked on top of one another, they would reach to the sky. Where this book can be verified by external events such as archaeology, geography, custom, politics, culture, known world history and writings, and other ancient texts. It has been so verified as to be accurate in all respects. New discoveries always support it, never vice versa. It is never once been proven faulty on single detail or fact, although many have mightily tried and failed. The Bible contains deep wisdom about God, life, the nature of humankind and human rational and irrational psychology. It's arguably the book that formed the foundation for the entirety of Western culture. It is described in Jeremiah 23:29 as both a burning fire and a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces, and in other sections of Scripture, as a sharp sword. Perhaps most importantly, the Bible contains the most important story of all time, a story woven into the DNA of every human who has ever been birthed. The Hero's Journey of Jesus Christ, which I detail in all its horror, inspiration and magnificence back in chapter nine. Should you want even more insight into the historical accuracy and infallibility of the Bible, I highly recommend the following books and I'll link to all these@fitsoulbook.com Chapter 11 that's fitsoulbook.com Chapter 11 the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Archer Fundamentalism and the Word of God by J.I. packer the New Testament documents Are They Reliable? By F.F. bruce those three ought to get you started. So if you have even the slightest hunch that the Bible is a book you may want to read, but you have no clue where to start. Or you're already a scholar of the Bible, but you want more direction and clarity on the best approach for immersing yourself in scripture, then you should probably know how to read the Bible. Because despite this being my own personal approach in the past, reading the Bible comes down to just a bit more than simply cracking the pages open and beginning on the first place, your fingers land, which is kind of like walking into a library, closing your eyes and selecting the first book your nose jams into. You'll certainly get something of value, but perhaps not quite as much value as you would have gotten had you been slightly more systematic in your reading approach. So because I've personally been immersed in a study of how to read the Bible in the best way possible over the past couple of years, I've got several tips I'd like to share with you now. 5 Ways to Read the Bible it turns out that reading, which is probably how you traditionally think that one would approach the Bible, is just one way to immerse yourself in the wisdom of the Scriptures. But in fact, there are five ways, including reading, that you can approach the Bible. Number one hearing the Bible in Luke 11:28, Jesus said, Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Romans 10:17 reads so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ and First Timothy 4:13 Until I come devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and teaching Donald Whitney writes in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that most who, like Jonathan Edwards, were converted while reading scripture are also like him in that they often heard the proclamation of God's Word prior to conversion. Faith and the ability to apply faith in every area of life is given to to us as we are equipped by the hearing of the Word. Sure, one can certainly attend weekly church services to hear the Bible presented from the pulpit, but there's other ways you can hear the Bible too. For example, there's an app called the YouVersion Bible app that has a free Bible experience for smartphones and tablets as well as computers. At the website Bible.com I keep on my Audible app on my iPhone the Complete Word of Promise Audio Bible, which is fantastically narrated and is, in my opinion, one of the better audiobook versions of the Bible out there. Some days I do read the Bible, but other days, especially if I'm on a nature walk or I'm driving or doing yoga in the sauna, I'll listen to the Bible. I also think that listening to great hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs that contain words of scripture is a fabulous way of hearing scripture, and for me it certainly counts. You can find one handy music library with sheet music for a host of psalms and other songs@christkirk.com Music Library. Our own family also keeps a psalm song book ever present on the living room coffee table, and I'll link to the one we use on the resource page for this chapter. I'm constantly surprised at how readily I can recite scripture I've memorized from songs compared to scriptures that I've merely read. One other tactic that I'll often use is I have an app called Castbox on my phone, and when I read a passage of scripture, I will sometimes do a search for that passage on Castbox and download a sermon that is specifically devoted to that chapter of the Bible that I've just read as supplementary hearing material. And and I've found that opens up whole new pathways to understand the chapter that I've read even more. Number two Reading the Bible in addition to reading and listening to the Bible via our private morning family practice and our group morning meditation with the Abide Meditation app from Abide Co, my own family gathers before dinner each evening and reads one chapter of the Bible together, usually from Psalms or Proverbs. Now, later in this chapter, I'm going to give you several good resources for identifying a structured Bible reading plan that will work for you. But in the meantime, it's important to understand that the Bible itself emphasizes not only the importance of hearing God's word, but also reading it. Matthew 4:4 but he answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Joshua 1:8 this book of law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have Good success. Romans 15:4 for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of Scriptures, we might have hope. Jesus himself referred many times to the importance of both reading and knowing the Scriptures and often says, did you not read, e.g. matthew 12:3? Have you not read what David did? Matthew 12:5? Have you not read in the law? Matthew 19:4? Have you not read that which he made them? Matthew 21:16 have you never read out of the mouths of Babes? Matthew 21:42? Did you ever read in the Scriptures Matthew 22:31 and as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? And finally, in the same way that hearing God's Word can include listening to music that contains verses from the Bible, reading God's Word can also include singing, you know, sight reading, hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs that contain verses from the Bible. Number three Studying the Bible. Whitney also says in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that if reading the Bible can be compared to cruising the width of a clear, sparkling lake in a motorboat, studying the Bible is like slowly crossing that same lake in a glass bottom boat. I've personally discovered that my own Bible reading practice has become far more alive by owning a good study Bible that allows me to delve into the underlying history behind what I'm reading, the origin or root of certain words, character studies, topical studies, and notes on grammar, history, culture, art, and geography. The depth of my understanding grows by leaps and bounds when I don't just read, but also study and immerse myself with what I'm reading. In the same way, you'd be far more intimately familiar with the workings of your automobile if you didn't just drive it, but also, say, read the user's manual, enrolled in a course on car mechanics, or took apart and put back together your car's engine. John 5:39 says, Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Acts 17:11 says, now these Jews are more noble than those in Thessalonica. They receive the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. And even the Apostle Paul, during his time of imprisonment asked Timothy in second Timothy 4:13 to bring him books and scrolls so he could continue to study the Scriptures. Now owning a good study Bible is the first key to studying the Bible. The presence of word interpretations, maps, clarity of cultural references, relevant similar portions of scripture, etc. Make finding truth easier than just using a plain Jane style Bible. Don't get me wrong, no matter how it's delivered, God's Word is mighty and holy. But having a good study Bible makes discovering scriptural wisdom a far more immersive experience. I personally own the King James Study Bible by Thomas Nelson and I also own a really good Bible, but it's just the New Testament. It's called the Word on Fire by Bishop Barron. A couple other excellent study Bibles are the NKJV Study Bible Full Color by Thomas Nelson, the NIV Study Bible, and the NET Study Bible, which is what I actually have downloaded to my phone and paired with my YouVersion Bible app. My twin boys currently own the hardcover KJV Teen Study Bible. You can even get a free study Bible@freebibles.biblesforamerica.org of course, once you have a study Bible, you have to have a good Bible study plan. While a spendy Bible Study software like Logos.com is an amazing tool, I'm not convinced you need to get that fancy. There are many other great ways to study Scripture. No matter which plan you choose, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew depending on your level of busyness. If you decide to read through the entire Bible in a year and you wake up in the morning with 30 minutes of assigned reading to be able to achieve that goal, you might not have much time left over to meditate, memorize, journal or pray. So be realistic about your Bible reading plan. For example, for a long time I used this small devotional guide called Our daily bread@odb.org which gave me this simple topic based Bible reading for each day so I could read for 5 to 10 minutes, journal for 5 to 10 minutes, pray for 5 to 10 minutes, and realistically engage in a total of 15 to 30 minutes of devotional time each morning or evening throughout the year. My family and I are now using shorter topical based study plans like the one we're currently on is called the Essential Jesus from the YouVersion Bible app, which I love. It allows you to either listen or read depending on what works for you that day. A similar Bible app which is also really good is the Dwell app, which actually includes music, narration, study plans, and a whole lot more from chronological to topical to the busy life plan. You can find a host of helpful Bible reading plan options on the resources page for this chapter@fitsoulbook.com Chapter 11 Number 4 Memorizing the Bible there's just something empowering, peace, bestowing and hope giving about memorizing words of Scripture and being able to pull them out of your brain and apply them to any situation that life might throw at you. Proverbs 3 One of my favorite passages in the whole Bible, and one of the greatest writings on overall wisdom and longevity I've ever discovered, recommends that we keep God's command in our hearts, bound around our neck and written upon the tablet of our hearts, dictating that this will prolong our life many years and bring peace and prosperity. Psalm 119:11 says, I've stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. See the ability to be able to wield God's Word like a mighty sword, and as a weapon in your arsenal to fight against anything life throws at you requires that you not only hear, read and study the Bible, but that you also memorize it. For example, you'll find the Scriptures that you memorize can be uplifting in times of turmoil, like say, Matthew 6:26 27 which says, look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you need energy in times you're depressed or sluggish, how about Isaiah 40:31? But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not grow faint. It can be inspiring when you're intimidated. Like Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, or comforting when you're afraid. Like Psalm 23:4 even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me can be enabling when you need to defend the hope that is within you. Like John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life so how can you better memorize the truths that you find in the Bible? Well, you can try the note cards so each week our family memorizes at least one verse from Scripture. My wife writes the verse on note cards that we keep in full view in the kitchen. Literally, while I'm doing dishes, I can look at the note card. And I also keep the note cards. Don't laugh on my exercise machines like my treadmill and my stationary bike, so I can see them when I'm exercising. Pictures My boys like to draw pictures or images that illustrate verses we're memorizing. And sometimes they do so on their own separate note cards. For example, Ephesians 6:17 describes the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. So they'll do something like draw a sketch of a sword next to a drawing of the Bible to help submit this in their brains. Writing or Journaling if you opt not to use note cards, simply keeping a journal handy next to your Bible and writing down specific verse or verses you want to memorize can be a simple and effective step for memorization. Accountability Find someone like a family member or friend who's on board with memorizing the same passages you are. The Then hold each other accountable each week by reciting the sections you've memorized to each other. Meditation now in a moment, you'll learn more about how to meditate upon what you've read, which on its own can be a powerful, repetitive technique for committing words and phrases to memory. And then there's the memory palace technique, which I'm currently using to memorize Romans 8, which in addition to Proverbs 3, is probably one of my favorite passages of all Scripture for general life wisdom. And I'm using the memory palace technique to do so. So this technique, which I learned from my friend and memory expert Jim Quick is also known as the method of loci and involves a strategy of memory enhancement that uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information. Author John o' Keefe explains this message as an imaginal technique known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. So in this technique, the subject memorizes the layout of some building or the arrangement of shops on a street, or any geographical entity which is composed of a number of discrete loci, hence the name, the method of loci. When desiring to remember a set of items, the subject walks through these loci in their imagination and commits an item to each one by forming an image between the item and any feature of that locus. Retrieval of items is achieved by walking through the loci, allowing the latter to activate the desired items. The efficacy of this technique has been well established, as is the minimal interference seen with its use. And you could always google memory palace technique or you could read Jim Quick's book Limitless, which is a fantastic step by step instructional tactic to be able to learn the memory palace technique a little bit better. And I'll link to that book@fitsoulbook.com Chapter 11 number 5 is meditating on the Bible. In Joshua 1:8, God tells Joshua, keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you'll be prosperous and successful. Psalms 1 blesses the man who meditates on the law of the Lord both day and night. And later in Psalm 39:3 David speaks of musing on the word of God, using a word with a rendering quite close to the word for meditation that was used in Joshua. Author Donald Whitney speaks of meditation as lingering by a fire, describing the mere reading of Scripture as casually strolling by a stove after you've been out for a long winter walk. On an icy day, you'll get a quick feeling of warmth. But to truly warm the entire body, you must linger by the stove's heat until it warms your skin, your muscles, and your bones. So you can think of meditation as lingering by the fire of God's Word for such a period of time that your body is fully heated by its warmth. Puritan pastor Thomas Watson comments similarly that the reason we come away so cold from reading the Word is because we don't warm ourselves at the fire of meditation. Meditation involves deep thinking and dwelling upon the wisdom, truth, and spiritual nourishment you receive in your Scripture reading, listening, and studying using strategies like imagination, visualization, mantra, repetition and beyond, you can, via meditation, equip yourself to become a true student of the Bible, better able to memorize, understand, and benefit from the passage you have heard or read. Meditation on Scripture often involves focusing on one single truth, a few words, or a small section of a Bible verse because your breath is so intimately tied to your stress levels, your focus, and your nervous system. Whichever meditation strategy you use, I highly recommend that you pair it with breath work, particularly using breath patterns like four in through the nose, eight out through the mouth, alternate nostril breathing, box breathing, and even holotropic breathwork. I introduce some of my favorite forms of breath work that I and my family use in an article that I'll link to on the Resources page for this chapter. When it comes to the spiritual disciplines, breathwork pairs perfectly with meditation in the same way that fasting pairs perfectly with prayer. They're the turkeys and cranberries of spirit nourishment. As with memorization, there are a variety of strategies you can use to meditate upon God's word, including, for example, emphasizing different words in the text so you could reread a meaningful verse that you found but read it a different way in a sort of mantra. When you do, you stress a different word each time. Take John 11:25, for example. You can stress the italicized word with each repetitive reading I am the resurrection and life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. I'm the resurrection and the life. I'm the resurrection and the life. I'm the resurrection and the life. I'm the resurrection and the life. Visualization or Artistic Expression? Close your eyes and visualize with as many vivid colors, smells, sounds, and details as possible the story or concept you've read. For example, during Jesus's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane from Luke 22:43 44, you might picture the individual teardrops of blood falling down Jesus's cheeks, an eerie whistle of the wind through the darkness of the trees that surrounded him, or even the distant snores of the apostles Peter, James, and John. Bring the passage to life using your imagination. Then sit with your breath and just dwell with your eyes closed upon the scene that you have just created. Mantra Repetition if you finish reading a passage like John 3:16, you could set a timer. I like this meditation and breath app called insight timer for 10 minutes and just repeat with each breath the following For God so loved the world. For God so loved the world. For God so loved the world. You can even dwell upon a specific word within your mantra like love, love, love. As you do so, you'll feel the power of a phrase or words sweep over your body as you bathe in the waters of that specific section of scripture. Listening to a Reading I find that with certain inspirational audio readings of scripture, I can close my eyes and enter in almost almost this meditative state as the audio plays. One of my favorite readings for doing so is John Piper's rendering of Romans 8, which I'll include a download link for on the resources page for this chapter@fitsoulbook.com Chapter 11. You can simply meditate as you listen to a Bible passage using an app like you Bible or meditate as you listen to a scripture based meditation teaching via an app like Abide, which I mentioned earlier. Prayer Praying your way through a text can enable your mind to be more open to God's illumination of the text and increase your own spiritual perception as you read. You can not only say a prayer before you begin reading that God would open your eyes to the truths that you're about to discover, but then as you read, you can come to God with your thoughts, gratitude and supplication. For example, Psalms 23:4 6 says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. As you read a passage like that, you might find yourself praying, oh God, please be with me through my own valleys. Please remove any fear of evil from me and thank you for your shepherding comfort. Thank you that you've blessed me even when I'm under stress. And please continue to provide me with your goodness and your mercy all of my life and you'll find that union with God, Conversation with God and dwelling upon God can make your meditation time even richer with the presence of an almighty Creator. Now, these examples just scratch the surface of ways you can meditate on the bible. There's actually 17 different forms of Bible based meditation that Donald Whitney teaches in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Indeed, I've found Donald's book to be an invaluable resource for delving into all the aspects of spiritual disciplines that I detailed in Chapter 10, including quite notably, digesting the nourishment that you can find within the pages of Scripture Summary so in summary, the five ways you can immerse yourself in the most important book of all time. Hear the Bible, read the Bible, study the Bible, memorize the Bible and meditate on the Bible. Now, how about you? Do you read the Bible? And if so, what type of Bible reading approach have you found to be best for you? Are you interested in beginning to read the Bible? If so, how do you plan to start? I encourage you to choose a plan from the options I've given you in this chapter and on the resources page for this chapter and to just begin today. I suspect the fruits that will pour forth into your life and the wisdom that you discover will make this one of the best decisions of your life. Your spiritual armor and spiritual fitness are growing stronger with each chapter of Fit Soul book that you listen to or read and implement. And now is a very special time because in the next several chapters you're going to discover the link between your spiritual fitness and the overall health and fitness of your body and mind, and how to grow all three on your path to a fit soul. In the meantime, for resources, references, links and additional reading and listening material for this chapter, you can visit fitsoulbook. Com chapter 11 that's fitsoulbook. Com chapter 11.