The Difference Between Reading and Studying

Aug 31, 2021
Difference between reading and studying the Bible

This post was originally published as episode 6 of the Bible Study Made Simple Podcast. You can listen here.

Do you want to know one of the main reasons that your reading plan might fail? It’s actually the same hiccup that keeps your study time from gaining traction. That is the difference between reading and studying the Bible. 

I am Eva Kubasiak, and this is Bible Study Made Simple. Have you ever felt intimidated or confused by the Bible? Or maybe you have started studying the Bible before but haven’t found a way to incorporate it into your regular routine. The Bible Study Made Simple podcast is here to help you move from intimidated and confused to confident and joyful in your approach to Scripture, and help you find a routine that sticks. The goal isn’t checking off a box perfectly, but instead, our goal is an intimate connection with the God of the Bible - plus having tons of fun along the way! 

Often when you hear someone talk about Bible study, you will hear them use the words “read” and “study” interchangeably. I have to admit, I have done this in the past, and sometimes find myself doing it subconsciously, so I have to be careful when I talk! But what most people don’t know is that reading the Bible is different than studying the Bible. 

So let’s jump into some of those differences, starting with what exactly is reading the Bible?

When you read the Bible, typically this is going to be larger chunks of Scripture. This will be a chapter or more each time you sit down to read, and the goal is to see the larger picture of Scripture. 

Bible in a year plans would fall into this category. You aren’t trying to pick up on every single detail, but instead, you are trying to understand what happened in larger sections. My friend Keith Ferrin from Episode 5 talks about this like watching the whole movie. 

When you are reading, I suggest you take notes to dive in a little deeper later - but the focus isn’t on your notes or finding answers to questions you may have. Again - the focus is on understanding what the bigger picture is. When you are reading like this, typically you will notice themes that are popping up, words and phrases that are repeated, and unexpected or surprising things that happen. 

If you are wanting a reading plan to start, I suggest a chronological Bible reading plan. Chronological means in the order that the events happened. So it is a plan reading through the Bible in the order that the events actually happened. I have a journal that was co-written with my friend and author Mariel Davenport that walks you through the Bible chronologically and has all kinds of bonus information in the back of it. If you are wanting to tackle the entire Bible, this is a great place to start. I will link the journal in the show notes.

As a side note, you might be wondering, why isn’t the Bible laid out in chronological order? That’s a great question. The books of the Bible are actually organized by genre instead of timeline. Genre is what type of literature they are. I have a podcast episode coming out about this in the next month or so, but until then, if you want more information on genre, you can download my free genre guide at evakubasiak.com/genre

If you are looking for a reading plan that isn’t through the entire Bible, I suggest going through each book of the Bible. Look at how much time you have per day to read, and then guestimate that a chapter of the Bible takes between 5 and 10 minutes to read. So if you have 10 minutes each day for reading, that is 1-2 chapters. If you have 20 minutes, that is 2-4 chapters. If you know your reading speed, you can personalize it a little bit better. Another option would be to just read in the amount of time that you have, and then bookmark it and pick it up again the next day. This isn’t an exact science, you just want to make sure that you are reading continuously through the book instead of cherry-picking what you want to read and what you don’t. 

Now let’s look at studying the Bible. Studying is different because you are going to go a little deeper, do a little research, and sit with passages a little longer. I will read my Bible every day (okay, most days) but I will probably only study my Bible 3-5 times a week. This is a longer carved-out time to spend with God and my Bible. 

You can spend as little or as much time as you like studying a specific chapter of the Bible and you will keep learning more and more as you do. This is where you would dig deeper and ask more questions of the text. What is the key theme of this section? Why did the author put these two thoughts together? Why is this repeated? How does this compare to other sections of Scripture? Studying the Bible can be more complex, but helps develop a greater understanding of God’s Word. The point of studying is to let the text marinate a little bit. Let it sink into your life.

In my own study time, I will look up answers to questions I had when reading, or move slowly through books of the Bible, answering these questions and more as I go. Next week, I will share with you the 4 questions I ask each time I study my Bible, so make sure you subscribe to Bible Study Made Simple, so you don’t miss it! 

I like to think of reading the Bible like going to the Grand Canyon and standing at the top looking across the canyon. You see all the different layers of rock from the top, and you get to grasp the magnitude of the whole thing (or at least the parts you can see!)

Studying the Bible in this scenario would be like hiking through the Grand Canyon from one rim to the other. You can see the plants up close and the different streams that you cross as you walk. Studying the Bible is how you take time to appreciate each story and verse you come across. 

You need both reading and studying to work together to help you get a firm grasp on Scripture. 

But where this gets tricky is when you get them confused. Maybe you are trying to read through a study plan and are wondering why you don’t feel like you are learning anything in the text? Or maybe you are trying to study through a reading plan and keep falling more and more behind as you go because it takes you so long to work through each section. When you understand the differences, it helps you move forward with confidence in your time with God. 

So here’s an action step for today: decide if you want to focus on reading or studying your Bible. Then pick a plan and move through it. If you miss a day, give yourself grace and start back the next day. Keep picking it back up. 

And as you go, here’s a prayer for you to borrow for your own Bible time: 

Father, I want to know You more through Your Word. Help me to balance reading and studying to know how to move towards You. Help me to understand the bigger picture of Scripture and how each of the parts fit together. Help me to soak in Your Word and meditate on it so each of the pieces truly changes me from the inside out. I want to be more like You. Amen. 

If you don’t know how to engage with God’s Word when studying, I have a free mini-course just for you with 10 different ways to engage with God’s Word in your study time. You can check that out at evakubasiak.com/engage. And no matter what your next step is, as you take that step towards God through studying the Bible, I pray that you remember our goal is connection with God over perfection in our day-to-day routine.