How to Get More from Your Bible Reading
Picture this: You get up in the morning, and you open your Bible to read. You check your Bible reading schedule to see what chapters you’re supposed to read for the day, and then you proceed to read God’s Word for the next 15-30 minutes. Then you close your Bible and go about your day, only to realize that you barely remember where you had read just hours earlier, let alone what you got out of it.
Although I’ve been reading my Bible daily for many years, this was a scenario I found myself in far too often. I would read and check the boxes off my Bible reading schedule, but often fail to come away with something I felt I could “sink my teeth into”, if you would.
Now don’t get me wrong, reading your Bible will benefit you regardless of whether you feel like you got something out of it. If you asked me what I had for dinner a year ago, a month ago, or even this time last week, I wouldn’t have a clue. But I can guarantee you I was nourished and strengthened by whatever meal my wife had prepared for us. So it is with the Bible. You may not always understand everything you read, and you may not get the warm and fuzzies every time you finish reading. But you’re still being nourished whether you realize it or not.
The Solution
So here’s what I began doing about two years ago.
Whenever I would read my Bible, I intentionally looked for a simple truth, principle, or “nugget” of wisdom that stood out to me. I wasn’t looking for some marvelous new revelation—just a key truth or observation from the text.
I would then open a notes app on my phone, paste the verse(s) I had read, and write down the truth or principle I got from that passage. And just like that, my Bible reading journal had begun.
Sometimes, it was just a single sentence. Other times, it was a couple of paragraphs. Occasionally, the truth would be so good, and I would be so helped by it, that I would write paragraph after paragraph about the truth God had shown me from His Word. There were even some days when I would get a full-blown sermon outline that I would file away to be preached at a later date.
“An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.” -A.W. Tozer
Examples
Let me give some examples of passages I’ve read in the past and the actual notes I wrote down in my Bible reading journal.
August 5, 2024
“And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.” 2 Chronicles 31:21
No matter what Hezekiah did for the Lord, he put his heart into it fully.
September 7, 2024
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.” Ezekiel 34:10
It’s a dangerous place to be when God is against you, especially when the reason He’s against you is because of the harm to His beloved sheep.
15 times in this chapter, the phrase “my sheep” or “my flock” is used. The sheep do not belong to the undershepherd! They belong to the Good Shepherd! The undershepherd is simply the temporary caretaker and steward of the flock that God has put in place. The minute that he forgets his place, he has stepped over the line into God’s rightful ownership.
If I completely own something, I get to unilaterally choose how to best manage that item. But if I’m tasked with stewarding that item that belongs to someone else, I’m going to be much more careful to manage that item exactly the way and to the specifications that the owner has outlined.
There’s nothing wrong with a pastor taking “ownership” and feeling a sense of personal investment in “his” church. The problem arises when he removes the quotation marks, and he truly believes he has ownership over his church.
On the other hand, what a comfort and a relief to know that the sheep do not belong to us! We don’t have to know all the answers. We simply must do what we’ve been commanded to do and follow the example of the Good Shepherd as best as we can.
June 7, 2025
“Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.” Ecclesiastes 6:9
This verse just jumped off the page at me. What a thought!
How often do we find ourselves wandering in our lives because we’re focused on our ever-changing desires? And while we’re doing that, we’re missing out on the joys that lie right before our very eyes.
This reminds me of 1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
There’s nothing wrong with having dreams, goals, and even desires. But when they cause you to lose sight of what you have before you, they’ve become the siren song of an unattainable end.
“He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” Proverbs 21:17
April 16, 2026
“Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.” 1 Samuel 16:18
David was not a soft, effeminate man, nor was he a mindless brute; he was balanced. He was:
- Skilled in an art (music)
- Strong and courageous
- Dangerous (man of war)
- Intelligent and wise
- Physically kept
- Spirit-filled
It would be wise for parents to keep these attributes in mind when making parenting decisions for their child. An imbalance in childhood will be revealed even more as the child grows.
How This Helps
At this point, you may be thinking, “Ok, so you write down a truth or observation from what you read. How does that actually help you get more out of your Bible reading?”
I thought you’d never ask.
First, I’ve found that it helps guard against the Bible-reading version of highway hypnosis. Have you ever been driving somewhere, especially on a long stretch of highway or an interstate, and arrived at your destination with no conscious memory of how you got there? That’s highway hypnosis. It’s essentially an altered mental state where your mind goes on autopilot and retains no memory of a long drive.
We all know what it’s like to be reading our Bible and get to the end of a chapter, only to realize we have no clue what we just read. (Oh, come on—don’t look so pious. You know you’ve been there.) So what do we do? Either we go back to reread it, or we—ahem—continue on anyway and tell ourselves that surely we absorbed some of what we read as our glazed-over eyes wandered over the page.
But if you’re reading with the intention of looking for a truth you can grasp, you’ll be much more likely to slow down and stay focused on the text.
Second, I’ve found that it helps reveal truths I had never noticed before. There’s no telling how many times I’ve read the Bible through, especially certain books and passages. But it seems like every time I approach my Bible reading with the focused intention of looking for a truth or principle, I end up stumbling across something I had read a hundred times before, yet had never really noticed.
Third, having a Bible reading journal puts the responsibility back on me to personally search for the treasures of truth found in God’s Word. In Psalm 119:127, David likens God’s Word to fine gold. The last time I checked, gold usually isn’t found lying scattered on top of the ground. If you really want to find gold, it’s going to take effort, work, and time. So it is with reading your Bible. So put in the effort, put in the time, and get to digging.
Fourth, a Bible reading journal gives me something I can look back on. As I mentioned, I have no recollection of what I ate a week ago. But do you know what I ate on March 20 of this year? I ate one of the best ribeye steaks that I’ve ever grilled. I tried a new method called dry brining. This is when you season the steaks the night before with coarse kosher salt and leave them uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours. This process pulls the moisture out of the steak, which then dissolves the salt on the surface. That liquid is then reabsorbed by the meat, essentially seasoning the steak from the inside out. To put it mildly, it was glorious.
But how do I remember what I ate that day? It’s because I took a picture of it. I’m not one to take pictures of food, but this was so good and had such an impact on my taste buds that it warranted a picture to commemorate the occasion.
When you read God’s Word and are helped, encouraged, and fed, don’t just enjoy it in the moment. Take a moment and write it down. Give yourself something you can look back on months or even years down the road and enjoy again what God gave you from His Word.
How to Get Started
So where do you begin? Here are just a few suggestions:
1. Keep it simple
Some of the most vital truths in God’s Word are very simple. Don’t overcomplicate the Bible. Begin by writing just a sentence or two when you come across a truth. Think of it as giving a simple summary answer to a child who asks what the verse means. There will be times when you may end up writing an extended entry, but don’t try to force it. Just keep it simple.
2. Manage your expectations
Don’t feel like you have to “find” something every day. Yes, read your Bible every day, but don’t feel pressured to “strike gold” every time you read. Read with your eyes and mind wide open, but remember that you’re still benefiting from reading the Bible even on days when you don’t have something to write down.
3. Choose a method
To stay consistent, choose how and where you’ll keep your Bible reading journal. For a long time, I used the Apple Journal app on my iPhone. Now, I use Obsidian, the main notes app I’ve switched to. For simplicity, consider using the default notes app on your phone or even a simple notebook.
4. Keep it organized
I recommend that each time you write something down, you create a note or journal entry with the date as the title. Even if you have multiple truths you want to record, don’t create a separate note for each one. Keep it to one note per day and separate the entries within it.
If you’re not reading your Bible on a daily basis, start today. If you already are, consider keeping a Bible reading journal for the next month and see how much more you get from God’s Word.
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Revelation 21:5
True and Faithful is a weekly blog by Andrew Beadles. Subscribe to receive new posts.