Reading Speed

The average person reads at a pace of about 200 words a minute (I just did an online test and achieved 198 words a minute).

What this means is that the average person could read up to 6,000 words in half an hour, or 12,000 in just an hour.

Here’s a striking fact:

44 out of the 66 books of the entire Bible are under 12,000 words.

This literally means that 44 books of the Bible (67%) can be read in under an hour.

The Bible at a Glance

The reality is that God chose 66 books to reveal Himself to us – to tell us what we need to know and believe to live a godly life for His glory. Each of these 66 books are written in unique ways with different occasions. The Bible is full of history, narratives, poems, and real letters written to real people – all compiled to bring us the Word that God desires to tell us.

What are contained in the Bible’s 66 books help us know, believe, and have a greater relationship with Christ. The Christian that reads and engages the Bible regularly has experienced the abundant life that Jesus talks about in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

To experience Christ is to read His Word.

So What?

Now, I ask you (and me), should our default activity every night be Netflix or Nehemiah (or any other Bible book)?

We can spend 60 minutes in the evening allowing our hearts and minds to feed on culture (which isn’t always wrong), or we can spend 60 minutes experiencing Christ.

Let’s not always retreat to Netflix (or whatever else you go to), but may we discipline our tired minds to be captivated by a glorious Christ.

This week we chatted with Peter Krol, the author of Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible. He gives a great method for how to study the Bible.