There isn't one right way to grow in Scripture. Whether you're opening the Bible for the first time, rebuilding a reading rhythm, or ready to study more deeply, we've gathered trusted resources to help you take your next step.
For the person who is ready to connect passages, trace biblical themes, and discover how the whole Bible fits together.
Start Here: Choose a Biblical Theme
The Bible is made up of 66 individual books, written by different authors across different periods of history—but together, they tell one unfolding story of God and his work of redemption.
One of the best ways to begin seeing that bigger story is to choose a biblical theme and trace it throughout Scripture.
Start with a theme like covenant, kingdom, temple, sacrifice, the presence of God, redemption, or exile and homecoming. Pay attention to where it first appears, how it develops throughout the biblical story, and how the New Testament picks it up or brings it to fulfillment in Jesus.
As you study, keep one question in front of you:
How does this passage fit into the larger story God is telling?
Over time, you'll begin noticing connections between passages you may have once thought were completely unrelated.
Learn to Follow the Story
When you encounter a repeated idea, image, promise, or theme in Scripture, pause and follow the thread.
Ask:
Where have I seen this before?
Where does this idea first appear in Scripture?
How does it develop as the biblical story unfolds?
Does another biblical author pick up this same language or imagery?
How does this ultimately connect to Jesus and God's work of redemption?
Cross-references, a good Study Bible, and a Bible dictionary can help you begin following these connections across Scripture.
Want Some Guidance?
You don't have to discover every connection on your own. Biblical theology resources are specifically designed to help us understand how themes develop throughout the Bible and how individual passages fit within the larger biblical story.
Recommended: The Storyline Bible Study Series
These studies guide you through the storyline of Scripture―each following a person, place, or thing in the Bible. Maybe you are practiced in dissecting a passage and pulling lessons out of the text to apply to your life. But now you may feel as though your faith is fragmented. The Storyline Bible studies help you put the pieces back together. You’ll discover cohesive, thematic storylines with literary elements and appreciate God’s Word as the masterpiece that it is.
Each Bible study guide is five weeks long and can be paired with its thematic partner for a seamless ten-week study to fit in a church semester.
Listen + Learn: Bible Project Biblical Themes
This fully-animated series traces key biblical themes from their first appearance through the entire narrative of the Bible.
Add a Few Tools for Going Deeper
At this stage, you may be ready to add a few resources beyond your Study Bible.
A Bible dictionary can help you research important people, places, concepts, and themes.
Cross-references (noted in Study Bibles) can lead you to other passages that use similar words, images, or ideas.
A biblical theology book or study Bible can help you trace themes across different books and periods of biblical history. Check out some of our favorite NIV, ESV, and NLT study Bibles.
Commentaries (like this Old Testament and New Testament series) can help you understand how a particular passage fits within its book and the broader story of Scripture.
As always, let these tools lead you deeper into Scripture rather than away from it.
One Last Thing...
The more you read Scripture, the more you'll begin to recognize its echoes.
A garden becomes a temple. A lamb becomes a sacrifice. An exodus becomes a pattern of rescue. A promise made generations earlier appears again—and eventually leads us to Jesus.
You don't have to find every connection at once. Start with one theme and follow it slowly through the story.
Over time, you'll begin to discover that the Bible isn't a collection of disconnected stories. It is one unfolding story—and every part helps us more fully know the God at its center.
Follow the threads. See the story. Behold the God who has been revealing himself from beginning to end.