Aman Kaur - St Matthew’s, Windsor
I always read [the Bible] every night before bed. Sometimes I will choose one gospel, or Paul’s teachings, sometimes I’ll choose a Psalm; it depends on how my day was. Sometimes my day is good, but when it’s not so good I read Psalms for something encouraging. I read almost every day.
I have been thinking about sleep – it is the most important part of your life. You’re giving rest to your body and your mind. If I sleep after watching a movie, on my phone, or watching news, which is really terrible, it’s stressful for my mind. But if I read something very calm and encouraging, the next morning I wake up smooth. That’s why I read [the Bible] every night before bed, it gives me encouragement and the next morning I wake up fresh with good thoughts.
Just like making time for dinner
Reading the Bible is a mindset. It’s how you have time for dinner, and you always have time to watch your phone. When we start watching videos on our phone, we don’t realise how many minutes pass – 20 or 30 minutes! But to read your Bible, you don’t need that much time and it will give you real growth to your mind. I try not to use my phone at night and so I try to read something [from the scriptures].
When I’m reading a chapter, I read it again if I don’t get the meaning. Sometimes if my mind is struggling, especially with a difficult paragraph, I’ll [leave it], wake up fresh and read it again so that it will go into my mind. I want to learn the meanings as well so that when I walk and when I work, I can see how it is implemented in my life.
I had an experience [sharing this with a friend] last year. Whenever I would go to church or read the bible, I would have a tendency to speak about it. I started talking to her and she said, “I don’t know where to start.” So I gave her John’s gospel. She doesn’t read much, but whenever I go over she tells me what she’s been reading and tells me the story. Someone started reading the Bible after hearing about my experience!
Tips for getting started
Do not be pressured to read it, but try to read it a little bit. If you finish today one paragraph, or verse, or chapter, you observe it and grasp it in your mind – that’s more important.
Start even if you are very scared or have no idea where to start. Start from anywhere. Once you get into it, I am giving you my assurance from my experience, somehow you’re going to get it and you will love to read the Bible. I love to read my Bible and before that, I didn’t even know about Jesus. If someone starts reading it and makes it a habit, [loving the Bible] will come automatically.
We interviewed several Sydney Anglicans as part of a series on personal Bible reading habits. Read the other stories in the series:
