Don't start your Bible at page one

Quick answer: Start with the Gospel of Mark. It's sixteen chapters. Read one a day, write one sentence about it, and in a little over two weeks you'll have read an entire book of the Bible about Jesus, start to finish.

The Leviticus wall

Almost every guy who decides to read the Bible on his own does the same thing. He opens to page one, because that's how books work.

Genesis goes great. Creation, the flood, Abraham, Joseph getting sold by his brothers and ending up running Egypt. It's a page-turner. Exodus is solid too, with plagues, the Red Sea and the Ten Commandments. Then somewhere in Leviticus 11 you're reading a list of birds you're not allowed to eat, including the owl and the bat, and you close the book. Maybe for a year.

That's not a failure of faith. It's a failure of route.

Leviticus is God's Word and it matters. It's also the part that makes way more sense once you know Jesus, the sacrifice every one of those offerings points toward. Reading it first is like starting a season of your favorite show at episode nine. You'll get there. Just not first.

Pick a Bible you'll actually open

Before you pick a book, pick a translation. You'll see letters on the spine. The common ones:

• ESV (English Standard Version): close to the original wording, a bit formal. Lots of churches use it.
• CSB (Christian Standard Bible): accurate and easier to read than the ESV. A strong first pick.
• NIV (New International Version): very readable and very common. If your youth group uses it, match them.
• NLT (New Living Translation): the easiest to read. Great for getting started, less word-for-word.

Any of these is a real Bible. Don't let anybody tell you the "smart" one is the only one that counts. The best translation is the one you finish.

Paper or phone? Honest trade-off. The free YouVersion Bible App is great and it's always in your pocket. Every notification you get is also in your pocket. If you can, read from a paper Bible you can underline. If your phone is the only option, turn on Do Not Disturb first. You already know why.

Why Mark

Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, the books about Jesus' life. It moves fast. The word "immediately" shows up over and over. Jesus is calling fishermen, healing people, walking on water and arguing with religious leaders, and nobody slows down to explain much.

It opens like this:

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1, ESV)

That's the whole book in one line. Everything after it is Mark showing you who Jesus is.

Sixteen chapters. Most take five to ten minutes. You can do one before school while the rest of the house is still figuring out where their shoes are.

The method, which is almost embarrassingly simple

You don't need a study guide yet. You need this:

1. Read one chapter. The whole thing, not a verse here and there.
2. Underline one line that stuck out. Something that surprised you, confused you or hit you.
3. Write one sentence in a notebook or the back of your Bible. What does this show me about Jesus?
4. Pray for thirty seconds. Tell God what you just read and ask Him to help you get it. That's it.

The notebook part sounds optional. It isn't. By chapter ten you'll flip back and see your own handwriting from chapter two, and you'll notice things you didn't catch the first time. It turns reading into a conversation instead of homework.

And keep in mind why you're doing it:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV)

It's not a textbook to pass. It's God talking. The reading plan just gives you a way to hear Him every day.

What'll go wrong (so it doesn't surprise you)

You'll miss a day. Probably around day six. Don't restart at chapter one out of guilt, and don't try to catch up by reading four chapters at once. Just read the next chapter tomorrow. Missing a day isn't quitting. Stopping is quitting.

Some parts will confuse you. In Mark 4, Jesus tells a story about seeds, and even His own disciples don't get it until He explains it to them. You're in good company. Write the question down and bring it to a youth leader or your dad. Asking is how people get deep in Scripture. If you haven't found a group yet, walking into youth group when you've never been to one is easier than it sounds.

The ending looks strange. When you hit Mark 16, most Bibles have brackets or a small note after verse 8 saying some early manuscripts end there. That doesn't mean your Bible is broken or somebody's hiding something. Christians have known about it for centuries and it's openly printed right there on the page. It's a perfect question to ask your pastor, and it's a good sign you're reading closely.

Doubts might show up. Reading the actual words of Jesus sometimes stirs up questions you didn't know you had. That's normal. One of the most honest prayers in the whole Bible comes from a dad in Mark 9 who wanted to trust Jesus and wasn't sure he could:

"I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24, ESV)

Jesus didn't send him away. He helped him. Pray that prayer if you need to, and talk to a parent, pastor or youth leader about what's on your mind. You won't be in trouble for asking hard questions.

After Mark, where to go next

Once you finish, don't jump back to Genesis yet. Try this order:

• John. Twenty-one chapters. A slower, deeper look at who Jesus is. This is where Jesus says it straight: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, ESV) Not one way among many. The way.
• Acts. What happened after Jesus rose from the dead and went back to heaven. Shipwrecks, prison breaks, and ordinary guys turning the world upside down.
• James. Five short chapters of straight-talk about living it out. If you want a plan, Seven Days in James, Twelve Minutes Before School walks you through it.
• Genesis. Now go back to the beginning. You'll see Jesus coming from a mile away.

Throw in one chapter of Proverbs alongside whatever you're reading. There are thirty-one chapters, so you can read the one that matches the date. It's full of practical wisdom about work, friends, money and your mouth.

One more thing

Tell somebody you're doing this. Your dad, your youth pastor, a friend from church. Not so you can look spiritual. So somebody asks you on day nine how Mark is going, and you'd rather say "chapter nine" than "I kind of stopped."

It also helps to know your parents might be glad to read along. Ask. You might be surprised who says yes.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

A lamp doesn't light up the whole road. It lights up the next step. Tomorrow morning, that's Mark 1.