“You’re taking my words out of context!”

We hear variants of this phrase a lot. Politicians are accused of deliberately taking their opponents’ words “out of context.” When we hear an upsetting comment or joke, we’re encouraged to consider whether its context makes it more understandable. And in the Christian world, we are frequently warned about the danger of failing to read Scripture “in context.”

But what is the “context” of the Bible, and how is the average person supposed to be aware of it while reading the Bible? Fortunately, reading the Bible in context is actually quite simple—it’s something you can easily do in the course of your everyday devotions, no seminary degree required. It’s just a matter of asking the right questions as you read God’s Word, and using the right resources to lead you to the answers.

To help you do that, Sarah Travis (@srhtrvs12) at Proverbs 31 Ministries has written an excellent, easy-to-follow guide to reading the Bible in context. Sarah even recorded a video to show you exactly how to read the Bible in context using Bible Gateway (the information about Bible Gateway starts at the 1:15 mark of the video):

Just follow along with Sarah to learn how to use online commentaries, dictionaries, and other resources to get the full context of the Bible passage you’re reading. Be sure to read Sarah’s accompanying blog post after watching the video. The article and video are part of the “Taming the To-Do List” study series, which you can follow at the Proverbs 31 Ministries website.

[Read Encouragement for Today devotional by Proverbs 31 on Bible Gateway and sign up to receive it in your email inbox from Bible Gateway.]