by Sonja Bell

Created on: February 23, 2011   Last Updated: February 26, 2011

Christianity is a fast-growing religion that reaps many converts from around the world.  These new Christians are often on fire for God and anxious to get into His Word.  However, many of these newborns in Christ are left without resources for discipleship and growth in their new-found faith.  And to be honest, trying to start from the beginning of the Bible when you've just learned about the amazing sacrifice that Jesus has made for everyone can be rather difficult, and often turns more people away from the faith than it draws in.  If you're a new Christian who's really looking to get into the Word of God, here are a few tips to get you started on your journey.

1. The beginning is a good place to start.  Or is it?

As wonderful as the creation story is, and as essential as it is to know for the Christian walk, it isn't always the best place for new Christians to begin.  If you've just learned about the sacrifice Jesus has made for you, you may want to learn a few more details about His life, death and resurrection.  Try starting with the four gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  You can read straight through all four, which will give the repetition needed to really drive the story of Jesus' life into your heart, or you can read one, then try moving on to a different book in the New Testament to break up the revelations of Jesus' life over the course of time.  You'll find that as you come back to His story, it will reveal new and exciting aspects of who Jesus was each time.

This is not to say that the Old Testament is to be neglected.  There are amazing stories and inspirational messages in each book in the Old Testament that are also important for every Christian to be familiar with.  Once you have a good handle on the New Testament, you can go back to the Old Testament to see how God created the earth, what it was like in the centuries before Jesus' birth, and the prophesies that lead to the birth of our Messiah.

2. Don't try to read it all in one sitting!

Can the Bible be exciting?  Absolutely!  It can be a real page turner when you're getting into the deeper meaning of God's love for you.  But unfortunately, people's brains were not designed to internalize large pieces of information at a time.  Try to take it slow.  Read at most a chapter at a time.  The Bible says to "meditate" on the word (Psalm 1).  This means thinking about it, chewing on

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