Reading the Bible with Jesus

When the Author reads to you
Jordan Sparnroft

As a first-grade teacher, my main priority is teaching children how to read. Watching my students connect with letters to their sounds to form words is amazing! I teach them not only how to sound out a word, but I teach them the parts of a sentence, how one punctuation mark can change the whole tone of a sentence, how exchanging synonyms can make all the difference in what you’re saying, and that when you understand the antonym of a word, you understand the weight of its meaning. 
Learning to read and understand the English language is no easy task. I see my students struggle as they try to understand suffixes, digraphs, and words that don’t follow the rules of the English language. When this happens, they raise their hands high with overwhelmed eyes filled with the desire to understand. As their teacher, I eagerly come alongside and guide them to the answers.
Can you imagine a child trying to learn to read without the help of someone who is able to instruct and guide them? 

We need to approach our Bibles with the humility of a child learning to read. The Bible is not just any book. It’s living and active. The wildest part is that its Author lives in us! As Christians, we read our Bible to know God. I’ve been guilty more times than I can count of reading my Bible to know God but never raising my hand, asking for His help, and inviting Him to join me as I read His word.
When I read my Bible without asking Him to come alongside me, it can be similar to that of a first grader left to their own devices to read a book. How much more enhanced would the child’s experience be if a teacher or parent came beside them and read the book to them in the tone that it is intended, explained the meaning of the words, and the moral of the story and how it can be applied to their own lives?
The same goes for us as Christians when we invite the Holy Spirit to join us as we read His word. We walk away not just knowing about God but knowing Him as He reveals to us His character, our depravity without Him, and our identity in Him. He knows the exact healing our hearts need and the exact text that will bring healing.

As we enter into the Christmas season, we will be hearing the story of how The Word manifested himself to us in the form of an infant being born to a virgin in the lowliest of places: a barn. It can be easy to become over-familiar and apathetic to the life-changing message this brings. Can you imagine how amazing it would be if we heard Jesus himself recount the story of his birth to us?
This Christmas season, as you read the Christmas story in your Bibles, invite Jesus to read it to you. I pray you hear with the ears and eagerness of a first grader, sitting on a carpet during story time, listening to The Teacher, reading the greatest story ever told.

Practical Suggestions:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you humility as you open your Bible.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit what text of His word you need to hear on that particular day or season. You may need to stray from your usual Bible study or reading plan.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding as you read His word alongside Him and allow Him to teach you. 
4. Seek mentors who are experienced in reading and studying the Bible and glean study tips.

Jordan Sparnroft lives in historic central Virginia with her husband and daughter. She is a first-grade teacher at a Christian school, and loves early mornings and spending time with her family.