How to Fall in Love with God’s Word

I have fallen in love with my Bible. Every morning I crave it. I hate to get out of my warm, cozy bed each day. But the Word of God calls to me, so I get up, make my coffee and reach for my Bible.

It all started in Exodus, the book where God set His people free. I’d heard lessons from Exodus and even taught stories from it, but it wasn’t until I read it myself that I developed a clearer image of God.

This is what I thought about the book of Exodus before I read it on my own. First, it was about Moses:  his birth, his rescue, his escape after his crime, his calling, his weakness. The book was also about Pharaoh. He wouldn’t let God’s people leave Egypt, so God had to send plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews leave his country. Lastly, to me the book of Exodus was about the Israelites and all their grumbling and complaining against the One who had set them free from slavery and provided them food and water. Not only did they complain against God, they tried to make their own god. 

Before reading it for myself, the focus of Exodus was on the stories. And Exodus has some good ones! But instead of focusing on Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Joshua, and the things they did, I need to learn about who God is. Because He is the same today as he was while leading Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness. And what did I learn when I read it on my own?

First, God hears His people in their suffering, and He saves them. He wants His people to remember Him and to worship Him. Also, God wants His children to love Him and to love each other with kindness and fairness. That’s what the ten commandments and the other first laws are about:  love God, love others, treat your neighbor how you would want to be treated.

I have a greater appreciation for God’s laws when I read them in the context of what is happening. Instead of seeing the ten commandments as a list of rules to obey, I see them as a way to know God. We give our children rules to keep them safe, and God gives us rules to give us the best life. It’s for our own good, not His.

Reading your Bible on your own time gives you a better picture of who God is to you, what He’s done, what He will do, and what He’s doing in your life now. But how do you fall in love with God’s Word? It’s simple. Read it. Every day.

Maybe you’ve been told, “If you love God, you’ll read His words.” Then you feel guilty for not reading it everyday. But the opposite happened for me. The more I read, the more I wanted to read and the more I loved God. The more I know about Him, the more I love Him.

How do you start a Bible reading habit? Here is what worked for me. I will elaborate on these tips in future blog posts, but these will help you to just dive in.

1. Make time. Commit a certain time of day to God. Make it the same time everyday so you’ll develop a habit. For me, it was after I took my oldest two to school. It was time for the baby to have a nap, so I would turn on some soothing music, put her to sleep, then get out my Bible study. Because I made it part of my routine, it was easy to keep doing it. I didn’t even have to remind myself or make myself do it. It became a habit: put baby to sleep, then read the Bible. And I looked forward to it every day. {Read my full blog post on making time for Bible study here.}

2. Find a short reading plan or start with something that interests you.
I used the She Reads Truth book on Exodus. It is mostly just Scripture in it with some extras, but no commentary or devotionals. I just wanted to dive into God’s word. Starting with a short reading plan will give you a small success to build upon. Yearly Bible plans are great, but not if you can’t make it through January (been there, done that). Read a short book of the Bible, then find another short one to read. The more you read, the more you’ll want to read.

3. Take notes and ask questions. Keep a notebook, or use a Bible study book that gives you room for journaling. Work through the hard things, wrestle with words that don’t make sense on the surface. Use a dictionary or a concordance, read verses that are cross-referenced. You don’t want to read the Bible just to say that you’ve read it, but you want to understand it.

4. Meditate on it. Every day choose a verse or verses to meditate on. This looks different for everyone. What I do is write the verse on a notecard, repeat it seven times, and put it somewhere where I’ll see it throughout the day. I try to memorize it as the day goes on. Use a Post it or whatever works for you. Find a way to see the Scripture and commit it to memory.

5. Get creative. Do you like to draw, paint, write, decorate, speak? Use God’s Word to create something. I like to write, as you can see. But I also like to create images on my computer. If a verse really stands out to me and it’s something I want to remember, I’ll design a picture with the verse. Then I can save it on my phone, use it as a screensaver, share it online, or print it. You can do the same thing with painting or drawing. Even talking! If conversations are your thing, share what you’ve learned with someone.

Just like any love of our lives, God’s Word can be life-changing. It gives us wisdom from God, perspective between eternal and temporary, and clarity in who God wants us to be.  I’ll leave you with the words of Jesus as he is talking to his apostles just before ascending up to heaven.

“I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith. For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never known the Father or me.”
John 16:1-3 (NLT)

Jesus is warning his apostles that the same people who killed him will be trying to kill them. And it is because they never knew God. He’s talking about the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew God’s laws. They knew all the laws and added their own just to be safe. But they did not know God himself.

If we are attending church and going to Bible studies, we can gain great knowledge, but do we really know God? Do we have that personal relationship with Him? Unless we are having personal Bible study time, we will not know God. And to know God is to love Him.