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You should read your Bible.  That's axiomatic for Christians, and I'd dispense that piece of advice to anyone. But reading the bible is not where our engagement with the Bible ends.  It is where it begins.  You need to go beyond reading the Bible to serious study of the Bible.  The first step is to realize there is a significant difference between reading and studying.

Reading is casual, something done for pleasure.  The motivation is personal gratification or enrichment, not mastery of the content.  Bible reading has as its aim private delight or personal application for our lives and relationship with God.  Bible reading is inherently devotional and low maintenance.

Bible study, on the other hand, involves concentration and exertion.  We have an intuitive sense that study requires some sort of method or technique and probably certain types of tools or aids.  When we study the Bible, we are asking questions, thinking about context, forming judgments, and looking for more information.

It is not hard to illustrate the difference.  Almost anyone can make a cup of coffee, but they are not baristas.  We know instinctively that both perform the same basic task, but what distinguishes the barista is a lot of time, effort, research, and experience in learned technique.  It is the same with Bible study.

Let's try another coffee illustration.  Let's say you and your friend were from the moon and didn't know what coffee was.  You are only mildly interested in the topic, so you decide to look it up in a dictionary.  You read that coffee is "a popular beverage made from the roasted and pulverized seeds of a coffee plant." Good enough.  You learned something.  But your friend wants to know more - a lot more.  How is coffee made?  What's the process?  Is there more than one process?  If so, why would there be different processes? Is there more than one kind of coffee bean?  Where are the beans grown?  Does that make a difference in color, aroma, or flavor?  Is climate a consideration? How is coffee different than tea?  If it is a popular beverage, how much is consumed?  Does consumption vary by country? Region? Gender? Age?

Whoa! She's way over the top.  And we know why.  Her intensity of interest and willingness to expend effort tell us her aim is studying, not just reading. There is a big difference, and it is one that translates well to what we should do with the Bible.