This is the last of four posts this week containing John Piper’s responses to the four main objections Christians most often give to reading their Bibles.
- . . . it seems so irrelevant to my life.”
- . . . I don’t have time.”
- . . . I go to church every Sunday.”
- . . . I find it confusing.”
John Piper has given thought-provoking responses to each and here’s his answer to the final one.
I find it confusing
One, make sure you have a modern translation that is readable, like the ESV or the NIV.
Two, make sure you’re in a church where the pastor explains passages from the Bible every Sunday.
Three, get a good study Bible like the ESV Study Bible. In a good study Bible there are notes at the bottom of the page to help answer a lot of the puzzling questions you will ask.
Four, read carefully and slowly and try writing a passage out. And I don’t mean write out the long stories in the Old Testament. I mean if you are stumbling over a verse or a paragraph in the letters or in the gospels, try writing it out by hand.
Five, join us online for Look at the Book [http://www.desiringgod.org/labs] episodes which are going public at the National Conference. In those videos, I will help guide you through texts. My hope is that these videos will instill habits of reading in you to make the Bible more understandable.
Six, pray. Pray for God to give you light. God loves to make his Son known. He sent him into the world at the cost of his life so that he could be known and loved. He is not interested in holding back from you the light that he gave with his Son and gave with his word.
Gospel-Centered Life 