Do you remember when you got a letter in the mail and you were so excited to read it? Did you read paragraph on page three of five and feel that you got the whole idea of your friend's letter? Of course not! You read every single word! So why do so many go to the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome and read verses 1-5 of chapter 6 and then walk away believing they fully understand the entire letter?

There are some distractions that block our understanding the Bible. Some of the distractions to reading for understanding are as follows: 1) The term Epistle- it simply means "letter". It seems that when we hear the term '"epistle" we lose sight of the fact that this writing is simply a letter. Letter should be read as letters- in one sitting if possible.

2) The chapter and verse divisions - Originally, the manuscripts that Matthew, Mark and other writers wrote were not written as chapters and verses. The chapters and verses begin and end many times without any regard to punctuation.

So then what is the best way to read the Bible to get a better understanding?

1) Get a Bible that has paragraph divisions. The New King James Version has paragraphs. Read one paragraph at a time to get the full train of thought.

2)Listen to the scriptures on CD, cassette or even on the Internet (http://www.audiobible.com). When we listen while we read we get a better sense of the author's intent, tone and context. Prior to 1453 (Printing press invented by Gutenberg) the word of God was heard by most who were familiar with the it. Only a few people even possessed a hand-copied scroll of Scriptures. So listening to the word is actually closer to how the word was learned originally. When we listen and read we are involving 2 senses therefore, our quality of learning is increased. The more senses involved the more the mind retains.

3) Do not stop reading at the end of a verse but rather stop at the period. A period marks the end of a complete thought. If we stop at eh end of a verse which ends with a comma or semi-colon or a colon, we have stopped short of getting the author's complete thought.

Let's take a look at a scripture text to illustrate what I am trying to say:

Pick up your Bible and turn to Romans 1: 1-6 Notice, verse 1-6 constitute the first paragraph. Verse 1 ends with the word "God" [no punctuation] Verse 2 ends with the word "Scriptures," [comma] Verse 3 ends with the word "flesh, [comma] Verse 4 ends with the word "dead." [period] Verses 1-4 make up the first complete sentence/ thought. Reading until you come to a period gives you the writer's complete idea. Reading the Bible this way will help your understanding.

4) One more pointer on how to read the Bible. words must be defined. If you are reading the King James Version many words used represent the usage of that word in the days of King James (1600's). I recommend the New King James Version for easy, clearer reading. What good does it do to read and not have an understanding?

In the KJV it says "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:" ( Philippians 1:27).The word "conversation" has the meaning today of talking or communicating with someone. Also no one says ,becometh we say, become. The NKJV takes out the eth that helps us all with the understanding.

But the meaning of the word translated from the Greek (New Testament) is "manner of life". You do have to be an expert in Greek, but you need a Bible dictionary and /or Strong's Exhaustive Concordance or Vine's Word Study.

I hope that the points I have given prove to be helpful to you as you go to word of God for a better understanding so we can apply it to our lives as it applies.

God Bless You! GMT