Lastly I will talk about Bible study option c) reading a small bit of the Bible every day. To understand why I’m not so keen on this method remember my analogy from Part 2, your grandfather’s letters to you. If you were trying to understand those letters would you pick a random number of sentences or a certain amount of time to read the letters? No, you would read a whole letter if you had time. If not, you would read an entire section. Consider Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul’s theological argument runs from chapter 1 to 11. Almost the entire argument is one long string of thought. Imagine your goal is to read 5 chapters a day so you read Romans 1-5 on one day, then the next day you read 6-10, then 11-15, then 16 and 1 Cor 1-4. Does this make any sense? Of course not. If you are strapped for time, then why not read 1-4, 5-8, 9-11, 12-16, etc., which keeps the sections more intact (or 1-8, 9-11, 12-16).

Read for content, not to fill a time slot. Structure your reading time around the Bible and not the other way around. The danger is turning the Bible into a series of one liners and losing what the writer is actually trying to say.