Faithfully reading God's Word can be difficult when you have a demanding schedule. Audio biblesoffer some great advantages over traditional reading. I first started listening to the Word about 25 years ago back in the good old days of Walkman cassette players. I spent many hours with the Bible streaming through my head as I bopped across campus between classes. Absorbing the Word through my ears significantly shaped me. I discovered that listening offered lots of advantages.
the great thing about audio is you can listen to it while you do mundane chores. It's a nice way to multi-task or squeeze in extra exposure beyond your normal reading time. I listen on my laptop while doing dishes, working out, folding laundry, etc. Put an audio bible on your mp3 player and you can listen while you exercise, walk or commute.
If you are an audio learner, listening will be the most advantageous encounter of the Word for you. Our culture has become visually dominated. We often forget that much of the Bible was likely passed along orally before being put in print. Even the Epistles (letters) were read aloud in communities. Many early Christians would have never seen a written Word, but they would have heard it repeatedly.
Listening is great for passages like those in Leviticus or Numbers that are loaded with names and places that “read” as gibberish. Many people have shared the discomfort, if not discouragement, they feel when trying to plod through lengthy genealogies. Maybe those are times when you might want to consider listening rather than reading. You won't feel the same frustration and may even learn how to pronounce some of those names of places and people if you listen to them on an audio Bible.
One of the keys to remembering biblical stories and gaining a greater depth of understanding is repeated exposure to the text. Many mp3 players have a setting where you can select to have a track loop and play over and over again. You would be amazed at how much you will pick up from a text simply by having it playing in a loop in the background while you work or attend to other tasks. You may not even be actively listening, but periodically picking up pieces over time pumps up your understanding of the text.
CDs–most bookstores carry a variety of options on CD. The selection of audio bibles on the CD range from a single narrator just reading the text to dramatic readings by multiple professional actors with sound effects and a music soundtrack. With a little research, you are likely to be able to find your favorite translation as well. Which audio bible is best for you is mostly a matter of personal preference and what is affordable.
