- Use a good study Bible with reliable annotations for reading insight. Suggestions would include – The English Standard Version Study Bible or the NIV Study Bible; both are excellent but we predominantly use the ESV which is a great, reliable, but readable text. Another to consider would be the Spirit of the Reformation Bible.
- Have a concordance at hand in the translation from which you are reading (ESV, NIV, NKJV, or NASB); if you have something other than those don’t tell anyone – (jk, but not much.)
- You may want to have a solid whole Bible commentary. Purchase, New Bible Commentary by Wenham, Motyer, Carson, and France, 21st Century Edition to help you understand as you read.
- Add a solid theological dictionary like New Bible Dictionary; want to spend more? Add the International Standard Bible Dictionary (Revised); and/or New Dictionary of Theology.
- Did you know there are literary guides to the Bible? Here’s one that is a standard: How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee and Stuart. For Christmas have someone purchase for you, Is There Meaning in this Text by Kevin Vanhoozer.
- You might want to throw in a good map of Bible lands unless you are the manly type (we never use maps or a GPS, which is why we get lost!). Even if you are the manly type throw in the Moody Atlas of Bible Lands by Beitzel; you will be tour guide before long!
- Just for fun why not add O. Palmer Robertson’s Christ of the Covenants to your library.
- Have a plan. You can follow a Bible reading guide. Use the pulpit series; a class topic or series and read systematically. You might read 1 John everyday for 30 days to soak in or you might read the gospel of John a chapter a day or a paragraph at a time but follow a plan.
In another post, I will add to the library and suggest additional means to deepen you devotional life.
