Simple strategies for navigating scripture

Christmas might be all packed away, but the search for ornaments on the tree may offer some strategies for navigating scripture.

Have you ever wondered how the Bible all fits together or how to find anything in it? Like locating each ornament on the tree, I’m all about understanding where to find content in the Bible. I think one of the biggest obstacles I faced when first trying to read it was how much time it took to find anything. Then when I did open it, many times the information felt a bit random. I didn’t know how it connected to the rest of the Bible.

As I was putting away Christmas ornaments, I saw similarities to scripture navigation which could prove useful.

All you have to do is find it

Most of the ornaments on our tree don’t have specific boxes they go in. Much of packing up Christmas is about making a space to store all of the holiday decorations. But some do have a specific box they go in, and a handful of those boxes have a picture of the ornament on the front so you know what’s supposed to go inside. Truth be told, those are the easiest ornaments to put away, because a particular ornament goes into a specific box – all you have to do is find the ornament on the tree.

Search becomes a treasure hunt

With the picture on the front of the box, you know what you’re looking for. Now the fun begins as the search becomes a treasure hunt.

I’ve seen that before

Next comes, “I know I’ve seen that somewhere before,” and you try to remember where on the tree you recall having seen the ornament nestled in among the fir branches, lights, and garland.

Sometimes I’ll remember I saw it when I was sitting on the couch looking at the tree, which helps narrow the search area.

How I find it

During the search one of several things generally happens:

I find the ornament right away.

I realize when and approximately where on the tree I remembered catching a glimpse of it.

I do a grand sweep of the whole tree (which rarely unearths the sought-after object).

My husband finds it, but that’s only if I let him know what I’m searching for.

I momentarily stop looking and find a box for another ornament. Eventually the one I was looking for appears.

The process

This year while engrossed in this process, which in some ways is like a game, I noted the similarities to navigating scripture, whether looking for Jesus or another connecting point in the Bible.

Sometimes Jesus’ presence in scripture is obvious, like in the Gospels when He’s with His disciples, and all those red letters highlighting what Jesus said if your Bible references Jesus’ words in red.

Other times His appearance or what I’m looking for isn’t obvious, but I’ll remember that it’s somewhere in the vicinity of or related to another story or passage I’m familiar with.

In other instances, I think about where and when I saw a particular scripture reference last.

What else was I reading at the time?

What other aspect of a passage of scripture do I remember?

Storyline

For example, the book of 1 Samuel begins with Samuel’s mother Hannah, hoping desperately for a child. Her fervent prayers are answered in her son Samuel who grows up to be a servant of God. He anoints the people’s king, Saul and eventually God’s choice for king, David. If we remember Samuel’s role in God appointing a ruler, we have clues to place people like Saul and David in the line up to help us find their stories in the Bible.

Other times I’ll release the search, keeping the concept I’m looking for in the back of my mind, knowing the Holy Spirit will catch my attention at the right time.

Name recognition

Genesis is another great place to establish some name recognition. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are a multigenerational trio that shows up throughout the Bible. Their storylines start in Genesis, but they continue to be mentioned from Exodus into the New Testament. Remembering these three goes a long way to keep us in the know as we read and see them reappear in various places in scripture.

Also, when we see something like “city of David” we can remember that’s connected to the David mentioned in the book of Samuel.

Connecting concepts

Leviticus holds some of the biggest treasure in the Bible, but for now, we’ll just focus on the offerings. In this third book of the Bible, we read about several different types of offerings. Just remembering the reference to these offerings in Leviticus goes a long way toward connecting other concepts in scripture.

Grand sweep

The grand sweep. This works well if you have a Bible with subheadings. It’s also helpful if you’re getting your bearings. You can skim the contents of a few books of the Bible, like all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, located at the front of the New Testament. A skim of the beginning of these four books of the Bible helped me find the missing manger. I also began to notice the similarities and differences between the Gospels, noting which stories and aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry are covered in each.

A quick view of the Bible

Another way to get your bearings is with a quick overview of the entire Bible. If you’re not sure how to go about approaching the Bible, I have a handy quick view of the Bible. It’s a tri-fold brochure that doubles as a bookmark, offering a quick overview of the whole Bible.

Bible quick view

What’s important is to simply start the process of looking. You’d be amazed at what you’ll find.

So next time you open your Bible, begin your search.

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Piano books and Bible books – an easy way to learn

Two things that kept me from reading the Bible – and what changed my tune

The search for the Christmas story and the missing manger

Join me as we search for the Christmas story and the missing manger in the Bible and learn a simple way to remember what you find.

This podcast episode was inspired by a two-part blog series, “The Christmas story and the missing manger.” You can read the original posts here:

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 1

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 2

Another podcast episode with a Christmas connection:

Christmas carols in the Scriptures – Angels We Have Heard on High

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 2

In the last post we saw no sign of the manger, but we did discover the wise men and what Jesus did in ministry. Like the wise men, we are searching for the Christ Child in the manger. Let’s see what the other two Gospels contain.

The Gospel of Luke

Birth stories

Let’s look at the Gospel of Luke. The first chapter is filled with baby stories. Here we read early childhood stories of John the Baptist and Jesus, even stories from before they were born.

Mary

In Luke we hear from Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Matthew we heard about Joseph.

Joseph and Mary

Check out chapter two. Do you see Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem?

We’ve found the manger!

Keep reading. Look who else is arriving.

The shepherds and the angels.

We’ve located the rest of them in Luke.

The manger

So how do we remember that the manger is in Luke’s gospel?

Well, when I was a kid, every year we would watch a Christmas Special. Near the end of the special, a boy with a blanket would walk onto the stage of a Christmas Pageant and tell the story of the birth of Jesus, the nativity story.

You might have seen it too.

The story told by Linus is in Luke.

The Gospel of John

If we’ve found the manger in Luke, do we need to keep looking?

Yes. We’ve come this far. Join me as we glance at the Gospel of John.

In the beginning was the Word

The first chapter of John starts very differently from the rest of the Gospels. When I first started reading the Bible, John’s gospel was confusing to me. I didn’t understand what he meant by the Word. I liked the words “life” and “light” but the rest didn’t make much sense to me.

John the Baptist

The first name we see is John. John the Baptist, not John, the author of the book or Gospel of John. Jesus doesn’t arrive in chapter one until John’s testimony. Or does He?

Jesus

Did you notice verse 14?

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” John 1:14a NIV

That’s Jesus. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the light.

We may have located the manger in Luke, but here we see the gift revealed. Jesus come to earth in the flesh to dwell among us.

John’s gospel reveals the gift. John reveals Jesus.

The Christmas story and the missing manger part 1

Where’s the manger?

Ever wonder where the Christmas story manger scene is in the Bible? You know, the story with the shepherds and the angels. I heard it read so many times as a child, but when I started reading out of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I couldn’t always find it.

When I read through the Bible with some friends and we reached the Gospels, those first four books of the New Testament, I made some observations that have helped me remember how they each start and where to find the nativity story with Jesus in the manger.

The Gospel of Matthew

Genealogy

Matthew’s gospel starts with a list of names that many people skip. Just FYI, that’s the genealogy of Jesus. Those names may mean nothing to you now, but if you stick with it, you might just be surprised at how many names you do recognize. That’s what happened for us.

Joseph

Just after the list, Joseph arrives on the scene. We hear about the coming Messiah, but we don’t find the Christmas story here. We’ll move on for now, after all, we’re in search of the nativity story. Don’t worry, we’ll come back to Matthew’s gospel in more detail in another post. Although we don’t find the manger here, we do find some treasure besides the gifts that were brought for the Christ Child.

Wise men

Speaking of searching, did you notice the wise men searching for the Christ Child? Some translations refer to them as Magi. Many of us grew up hearing about the three kings mentioned in the hymn, present in the Christmas pageant, and gathered around the nativity set. Although they show up in many places around Christmas time, they are only found in one gospel, the Gospel of Matthew.

My method to memorize utilizes Magi. Matthew’s gospel mentions the Magi.

The Gospel of Mark

Messenger

Moving on to Mark, we first hear about a messenger, John the Baptist.

Good information, but where’s the manger?

The first real mention of Jesus is of him in the middle of ministry.

Where are the wise men? Where are the shepherds? What about the angels?

Ministry

Mark’s gospel, full of many stories of Jesus, begins with a messenger, then moves quickly to Jesus in ministry. This is a wonderful gospel to learn about what Jesus did, but with no manger here, we’ll keep moving.

What to memorize? Mark’s gospel moves from messenger to ministry.

Two more Gospels to go. We’ll take a look at Luke and John in the next post.