Should I Read Short or Long Bible Passages in My Quiet Time?

I started regularly having quiet times when I was very young—in junior high school! After going through several Bible studies and learning from mentors, I thought I had cracked the code and discovered the ultimate quiet time method. I would go through one book at a time and study one to three verses in that book every day. 

 

But then when I was in college, I learned about biblical theology. I realized that while my routine quiet time method allowed me to go deeper in each verse and thoroughly read cross-references, it did not help me develop a big-picture understanding of the biblical story. I had professors and new mentors teach me to read the Bible in larger chunks—some even recommended only ever reading whole books at a time. 

 

Since then, I have seen this conversation go back and forth among Christians. Shorter passages allow us to go deeper, but longer passages help us understand context, and so on.

 

Which should we choose? 

 

Friend, I am here to encourage you that this might be the wrong question. This question hinges on the idea that there is a right way of studying the Bible, but in truth, what matters most is that you are intentionally spending time in God’s Word. There are benefits to reading both short and long passages during your time in Scripture. 

 

The Benefits of Reading Scripture in Longer Chunks 

 

• Longer passages allow you to get a fuller context of what you are reading.
• Longer passages help us keep track of and stay invested in the longer narratives within Scripture (like 1 & 2 Kings!).  
• Longer passages are helpful if you want to read through the whole Bible in a single year. 
• Longer passages help you to focus on Scripture for a longer amount of time before heading to other resources. 

 

The Benefits of Reading Scripture in Shorter Segments 

 

• Shorter passages help us fit Bible reading into our busy lives or seasons. 
• Shorter passages allow us to focus on one idea or topic at a time. 
• When we study Scripture in shorter segments, we can more easily unpack certain genres of Scripture, like the proverbs or the epistles. 
• Shorter readings provide the opportunity and time to do a deeper Bible study through looking up cross-references, completing word studies, or consulting commentaries. 

 

There you have it! There are benefits to reading both shorter and longer Bible passages. If you are still wondering which direction to take for your personal quiet times, consider what it is you want to read. For example, if you want to read an epistle, it might be helpful to break it down into smaller sections. But maybe you want to read the Bible in a year. In that case, reading in larger chunks will best help you achieve that goal—not only to get through the reading plan, but also to help the Old Testament narratives make more sense.

 

But while both options have their benefits, they both have potential pitfalls as well. Be cautious as you read shorter passages that you are not taking verses out of context. It is all too easy to read a single verse in an epistle, and miss out on what it really means because you fail to read the surrounding verses. On the flipside, if you spend all your time reading longer passages—like full chapters or books at a time—you may not study or interpret it as carefully as you might reading a shorter passage. 

 

Remember: no matter how you approach the Bible during your quiet times, what matters is that you are taking the time to actually read it. As you continue to have quiet times, you will continue to find new approaches—the Bible will never get old or run out of riches to explore. Do not settle for what you think is the right way, as I was tempted to in junior high, but continue to pursue knowledge and love of God in all the many ways He has made possible to you.