Our culture has been moving more and more toward digital life, but with the advent of sheltering and quarantining due to COVID-19, every day brings new opportunities to connect, learn, and resource online, especially in the Bible study space. With this surge of digital studies, new online communities, and groups gathering digitally to go through a study together, the online spaces are suddenly saturated with great options to choose from.

Even before all of this, questions like, “Where should I start studying the Bible?” and “What’s the best thing to study next?” are very common concerns. Here are three actions to take to help you make a decision.

Consider this hierarchy for how to choose.

This is not meant to be a hard and fast rule, but just a series of questions you can ask yourself to help guide you to a Bible study that is a good fit for where you are right now.

1. Where is God leading me/already speaking? Take some quiet moments to look and listen for where God is already leading you.
2. What is my local church studying? Studying with “real-life” people you are committed to is always a great thing to prioritize. Even if the topic/study is not something you are most interested in. We lean so much from studying alongside one another.
3. What have I not yet studied? Have a Bible study bucket list and lean in to the books of the Bible you’ve never studied before.
4. What am I interested in? If, after going through the first three questions, you still are not sure simply go with what sounds fun to you!

Another big factor to keep in mind is to know where we are on the Bible Study Boulevard. Once we know where we are on our journey, that will help us choose the next best baby step.

Remember there is no bad choice if it gets you in the Word.

You may evaluate where you are and where God is leading and still have several studies to choose from. There are loads of great guides out there. Don’t turn this into a moral choice! Just pick one and dive in.

Don’t forget to think outside of the box.

The time we spend in front of the Bible is critical for our spiritual life. But it is not the only way we can get in the Word.

• Bookend your day with time in the Word.
• Utilize podcast sermon series’.
• Listen to God’s Word throughout the day.
• Engage in both topical and passage-driven studies (ones that go verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible or passage of Scripture).

This post is a summary of my conversation with Teri Lynne Underwood. You can catch the entire chat in the video below or watch in on Facebook.