The first part of the Bible I remember reading was Luke’s Gospel, which I sat up all night reading the night I became a Christian, at age 20.

Name a Bible character you resonate with and why.

I’m tempted to say King David because of the way the psalms speak so accurately and wonderfully into my life, but it’s probably the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Jesus knew the mess she had made of her life, and yet he didn’t condemn her. He loved her and told her the truth about himself that set her free.

What’s one thing from the Bible that’s stuck in your brain at the moment?

Well, since I read it this morning, the implications of Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” – especially reflecting on it a few days after Easter, and the way it so perfectly sums up the evil of Jesus’ crucifixion and the unfathomable good that God achieved through it.

Describe one of your Bible reading failures and what you learnt.

I think the most serious Bible reading failure I can think of is thinking that I can grow in my love for Jesus, and live the Christian life well, without reading his word. However stressed or busy I am, I need God speaking into my heart and life, and I need it every day, and so my practice is to read the Bible with breakfast (and it helps that I’m a great believer in a proper sit-down breakfast every day!).

What advice would you give someone struggling to read the Bible each day?

The Nike motto comes to mind: Just do it. The longer you put it off the harder it will be. It doesn’t have to be structured or lengthy or at the same time or in the same place or following a study guide. Just pick up the Bible and read, and be humbled that God has not left us to find him, but that he has found us and loved us, and spoken to us in his life-giving written word.

And just for fun, if you were a monster what would be your defining feature?

Neatness. Things can never be too tidy, right?