I like reading, and a good novelist will keep me captivated for hours. So why do I find the Bible such tough going? Is God less talented than Thomas Keneally or Peter Carey?

Actually, when I was first told that I should study Scripture every day, I raised a pretty strong objection. My argument was this - we live in a literate society where printed Bibles are cheap and readily available, but this has not always been the case. If most believers through most of history got on perfectly well without daily bible study, why is it essential for us?

But this doesn’t hold water. Turns out that daily Scripture has always been a part of life for the faithful. The very first psalm tells us that the blessed man meditates on God’s word “day and night” - presumably because he has memorised it. In the book of Acts, we find the early Christians meeting every day in house churches to study the Word. And in our own Anglican tradition, the prayer book contains daily services which, in theory, enabled the devout to come to church every morning and evening to hear Scripture read.

OK, we should do it, but how? I’ve got no new tricks to offer, nothing to really make it easier. You just have to get going. If you’ve stopped, you need to start again. I haven’t followed a single pattern over the years. Sometimes I’ve read just a few verses a day. Sometimes I’ve sped-read my way through many chapters at a time. Currently I’ve settled on two chapters a day - one in the morning and one in the evening. The key thing, I reckon, is to be regular.

My own experience is that my character and faith begin to fray at the edges when I neglect my daily Bible reading. Yes, it’s harder to read than a Dan Brown novel, but maybe it’s meant to be. Steak is harder to eat than ice cream - but it’s much more nourishing. We all know we need to feed our bodies properly - well, we need to feed our souls properly too. As Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”