A regular time should be set apart each day for the study of the Bible. I do not think it is well as a rule to say that we shall study so many chapters in a day, for that leads to undue haste and skimming and thoughtlessness, but it is well to set apart a certain length of time each day for Bible study. Some can give more time to Bible study than others, but no one ought to give less than fifteen minutes a day. I set the time so low in order that no one may be discouraged at the outset. If a young Christian should set out to give an hour or two hours a day to Bible study, there is a strong probability that he would not keep to the resolution and he might become discouraged. Yet I know of many very busy people who have given the first hour of every day for years to Bible study and some who have given even two hours a day. The late Earl Cairns, Lord Chancellor of England, was one of the busiest men of his day, but Lady Cairns told me a few months ago that no matter how late he reached home at night he always arose at the same early hour for prayer and Bible study. She said, “We would sometimes get home from Parliament at two o’clock in the morning, but Lord Cairns would always arise at the same early hour to pray and study the Bible.” Lord Cairns is reported as saying, “If I have had any success in life, I attribute it to the habit of giving the first two hours of each day to Bible study and prayer.”
It is important that one choose the right time for this study. Wherever it is possible, the best time for this study is immediately after arising in the morning. The worst time of all is the last thing at night. Of course, it is well to give a little while just before we retire to Bible reading, in order that God’s voice may be the last to which we listen, but the bulk of our Bible study should be done at an hour when our minds are clearest and strongest. Whatever time is set apart for Bible study should be kept sacredly for that purpose.
2. We should _study the Bible systematically_. Much time is frittered away in random study of the Bible. The same amount of time put into systematic study would yield far larger results. Have a definite place where you are studying and have a definite plan of study. A good way for a young Christian to begin the study of the Bible is to read the Gospel of John. When you have read it through once, begin and read it again until you have gone over the Gospel five times. Then read the Gospel of Luke five times in the same way; then read the Acts of the Apostles five times, then 1 Thessalonians five times, then 1 John five times, then Romans five times, then Ephesians five times.
By this time you will be ready to take up a more thorough method of Bible study. A good method is to begin at Genesis and read the Bible through chapter by chapter. Read each chapter through several times and then answer the following questions on the chapter:
(1) What is the principal subject of the chapter? (State the principal contents of the chapter in a single phrase or sentence.)
(2) What is the truth most clearly taught and most emphasized in the chapter?
(3) What is the best lesson?
(4) What is the best verse?
(5) Who are the principal people mentioned?
(6) What does the chapter teach about Jesus Christ? Go through the entire Bible in this way.
Another and more thorough method of Bible chapter study, which cannot be applied to every chapter in the Bible, but which will yield excellent results when applied to some of the more important chapters of the Bible, is as follows:
(1) Read the chapter for to-day’s study five times, reading it aloud at least once. Each new reading will bring out some new point.
(2) Divide the chapter into its natural divisions and find headings for each division that describes in the most striking way the contents of that division. For example, suppose the chapter studied is 1 John 5. You might divide it in this way: First division, verses 1-3, The Believer’s Noble Parentage. Second division, verses 4, 5, The Believer’s Glorious Victory. Third division, verses 6-10, The Believer’s Sure Ground of Faith. Fourth division, verses 11, 12, The Believer’s Priceless Possession. Fifth division, verse 13, The Believer’s Blessed Assurance. Sixth division, verses 14, 15, The Believer’s Unquestioning Confidence. Seventh division, verses 16, 17, The Believer’s Great Power and Responsibility. Eighth division, verses 18, 19, The Believer’s Perfect Security. Ninth division, verse 20, The Believer’s Precious Knowledge. Tenth division, verse 21, The Believer’s Constant Duty.
(3) Note the important differences between the Authorized Version and the Revised.
(4) Write down the leading facts of the chapter in their proper order.
(5) Make a note of the persons mentioned in the chapter and of any light thrown upon their character.