Old Testament Could Be Key To Motivating Teens To Read Bible More

According to the American Bible Society, 69 percent of teenagers say they believe the Bible contains all the information a person needs to live a meaningful and successful life. In addition, 89 percent believe the Bible is a sacred text and 44 percent believe it does not have enough influence in society today.

While the numbers might sound encouraging, when asked the logical question of how much time they spend reading it, the numbers are quite an eye-opener. 

Despite their strong claim of belief in the Bible, 64 percent say they only read the Word of God less than three to four times per year, or once every three to four months. When asked why a Book they claim to be so important to living is hardly read, 71 percent say they are simply too busy to read it.

The information cited came from a Barna Research survey titled, "Teens State of the Bible," and also found that although it may be easy to criticize the teens for their seeming apathy, they are simply mimicking the views of their parents.

While there are a wide variety of opinions out there on why this is, in my years of ministry I have come across something that I believe would help Christians in this area that may seem radical: spend more time in the Old Testament.

First, let us consider some of the reasons commonly given for not reading the Bible. One of the most common is "I am simply too busy." I dont have access to your schedule, but I would suspect that if I were to look at it I could probably find time in it for you to read Gods Word. When a person says they do not have time, if they are being honest, that would also mean they have no time to watch TV, spend in leisure etc.

Another excuse is that people just dont like to read anymore. However, the Harry Potter books proved that wasnt true. I am not recommending the books because they promote witchcraft and other anti-Biblical teachings, but one cannot deny that they captured the imagination of a large number of young people and got them into reading books. Therefore, we cannot say that teenagers dont like to read, the issue has to do with having something for them to read that is exciting.

Many Christians spend the majority of their time in the New Testament. This is understandable because it reveals how Jesus came to nail the curse of the law to the cross and pay sins penalty for our sins so we can obtain the free gift of salvation. 

However, a person cannot truly understand all of the riches of the Bible without having a proper knowledge of the Old Testament. It has often been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Remember, that while the Bible has many human writers, the author of each book is God. Because of this, just like an author who writes multiple books dealing with a particular subject, there is a certain expectation that the reader has read or is at least familiar with the other books that were previously written. 

This can be seen in how those in the New Testament including Jesus, Peter, Paul and others referenced passages in the Old Testament. This was because they assumed their audiences were familiar with these passages. 

I would submit that if a person likes adventure novels, he will love the true stories in the Old Testament. More and more TV shows and movies are using Old Testament as a primary source for show scripts because there is so much amazing content to work with.

Whenever I read the accounts in the historical books it is thrilling to me as more and more archaeological discoveries prove these stories authenticity exactly as described in the Bible.

If you love science, you will find Einsteins theory of relativity in Job 38:19 where God asks "where is the way where light dwelleth?"  The reason he didn't say "where is the place where light dwells" which we would normally say about something is because Einstein proved that light is always moving.  The Bible is one of the most powerful science textbooks for those with an inquisitive mind.

Hollywood loves to produce shows that deal with the nature of time, such as time travelling or knowing the future in advance.

Yet the Old Testament prophets tell us with 100% accuracy exactly what is going to happen hundreds of years in advance such as the passages in Isaiah where it predicts the sufferings of Jesus or how God gave the exact name of the king, Cyrus, who would issue the order for the Jews to return to the land 250 years before He was born. Many more events are yet to be fulfilled.

When we let it sink in that we are reading events that happened to real people just like us, it will make the word of God come alive.  Our teens will no longer feel that reading the Bible is a chore and something they have to do, but something they want to do.