The Holy Bible isn't just a rule book. Many read the Bible to know how God wants us to live our lives. Which is true; it contains God's detailed will for every aspect of our life, but if were just a rule book we would be hopeless: because we cannot keep God's law.
The Holy Bible isn't just a story. It is a story of God's redemption for sinful people, but we don't read it just for information or to study history and good literature.
The Holy Bible does not save you by reading it. We must hear the gospel in order to believe it, but reading it does not satisfy the wrath of God or undo the punishment for our sin.
The Holy Bible isn't just to learn about God. We don't read it to know about, we read it to know God and draw near to him in gratefulness,worship,fear and love.
The Holy Bible isn't read to gain more favor with God. As Christians we cannot be any better in the sight of God, because His Son's righteousness is laid on our account. So we shouldn't read out of duty and feel guilty when we don't - God doesn't crack the whip when we neglect.
The Holy Bible is a weapon, a guide, a means to reveal God to His people, and a massage of hope. It encourages, corrects, instructs, and edifies. It brings wisdom, knowledge, and a love for God and others. We read it to know God more intimately; to know the will of our Lord and Master. We should read the Scriptures because we love God and acknowledge His Lordship over our lives.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you... then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:1, 5-6)
Do you know who God is?
Do you love Him above all?
Do you fear Him?
Do you trust Him with everything because you know His character?
Do you worship Him for who He is all the day?
Do you represent Him well?
Do you serve Him as a slave?
Are you only concerned with His will and what He would have you do?
Do you know His specific will in how you are to dress? How to manage time? How to raise you family? How to serve you employer? What to take pleasure in? How to pursue education? How to have relationships in a godly manner (if dating is even biblical), etc.?
If your answer to these questions are mostly no, beware lest you profess God with you lips, but your heart is far from Him (Isaiah 29:13); lest you create a god that serves you, but not serve the God of the Bible (Romans 1: 21, 23, 25). Lest you become wise in you own eyes and do things in your own understanding but not according to the will of God (Proverbs 3: 5-7).
We need to dig deep into the Word of God.
If you want to grow in your faith, know God more, and be conformed to His image you need to spend time in His word. There may be times when a few verses here and there is all you can manage. When you were a new believer you most likely weren't jumping into an inductive exegetical study on the book of Revelation, and in some seasons of life there are moments when caring for children, full time jobs, or studying for exams limit the time you can spend in God's Word. But if you've never spent hours pouring over the scripture and if studying a book of the Bible is not part of your devotion, you won't grow. (Hebrews 5:12-15)
"Sure, Brooke, sounds good in a blog post, but how do I find that much time to spend? And where do I start?"
I'm not about to spell out how to manage your time, because, honestly, that is something I struggle with daily! But I guarantee, if you make God's word a top priority, you will never regret it.
We need to dig deep into the Word of God.
If you want to grow in your faith, know God more, and be conformed to His image you need to spend time in His word. There may be times when a few verses here and there is all you can manage. When you were a new believer you most likely weren't jumping into an inductive exegetical study on the book of Revelation, and in some seasons of life there are moments when caring for children, full time jobs, or studying for exams limit the time you can spend in God's Word. But if you've never spent hours pouring over the scripture and if studying a book of the Bible is not part of your devotion, you won't grow. (Hebrews 5:12-15)
"Sure, Brooke, sounds good in a blog post, but how do I find that much time to spend? And where do I start?"
I'm not about to spell out how to manage your time, because, honestly, that is something I struggle with daily! But I guarantee, if you make God's word a top priority, you will never regret it.
As far as how to start studying the Bible here are some tips and tools that I use:
#1: To dig deep into the Scriptures, you need the help of the Holy Spirit to guide you to the truth (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). We can study God's word all we like, but if the Holy Spirit is not directing us we can interpret the truth according to our corrupt minds and come out with some cultist theology. Or even to try and try to gain some insight from a passage, but fall asleep in boredom. So pray. Ask God to open your eyes that you might 'behold wondrous things out of His law' (Psalm 119:18). Ask Him to 'teach you and give you understanding so that you an keep his law and obey it with you whole heart' (Psalm 199:34). Ask that God would 'stir up in you the desire, longing, and thirst to see His power and glory, and that He would reveal it to you' (Psalm 63:1-4).
#2: Read and meditate on the scriptures continually. The more time you spend in the Word of God the more you will be able to understand and glean truths from it. I highly recommend Professor Grant Horner's ten bookmark system of reading the Bible [click here].
#3: Read and study a passage in context and in comparison with other verses in scripture. My youth group leader, Ryan, pounded into our brains that context is king! A common pitfall is to "pull it out of the text" or to apply some meaning to a verse that wasn't intended by the original authors. A good way to stay clear is to read the verses around it. People often say the Bible is full of mistakes or that it contradicts itself, but when you compare scripture with scripture and look at things in context you find that some verses show one side of the picture and you need other passages to paint the full picture.
#4: Studying the Bible can be broken down into three steps: Observation, Interpretation, and Application.
- Observation: What does the text say? Who are the main characters? Are their repeated words and concepts that would imply the themes? Are their important contrasts and comparisons? Does anything surprise you? Where are the major transitions?
- Interpretation: What does it mean? What was the message for the people at that time? What was God trying to teach or show them? How does this passage fit into the larger story of the book and the Bible? How does it point or speak of Christ?
- Application: What does it mean for me or for us? Is there a command or exhortation for how we should live? What is similar about the situation of the original audience with the situation of our lives today? What did God say to them and how would we apply these circumstances in our lives? What does this tell us about God and how should we live in light of that?
Paul Washer, a biblical preacher and missionary, suggests answering the following four questions when applying the scriptures:
1) Who is God?
2) Who is God to me?
3) What has God decreed for me?
4) What has God done/is doing/will do for me/others/world?
#5: Compare what you learn and find with other fellow Christians. It isn't wrong to read and learn from other people. It's wrong to take other Christian's words to replace reading and studying the Bible for yourself, but we need others to keep us on track. If ten Spirit filled believers are saying the same thing about what the Bible says, then you can know if your interpreting the passage the way God intends it to be read (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
We have the privilege of having the inspired word of God in our language. God has not left us to figure things out on our own. He reveals himself to His people every day. Lets take advantage of what God has given us and discover the treasure of who He is in His Word.
Sincerely,
#1: To dig deep into the Scriptures, you need the help of the Holy Spirit to guide you to the truth (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). We can study God's word all we like, but if the Holy Spirit is not directing us we can interpret the truth according to our corrupt minds and come out with some cultist theology. Or even to try and try to gain some insight from a passage, but fall asleep in boredom. So pray. Ask God to open your eyes that you might 'behold wondrous things out of His law' (Psalm 119:18). Ask Him to 'teach you and give you understanding so that you an keep his law and obey it with you whole heart' (Psalm 199:34). Ask that God would 'stir up in you the desire, longing, and thirst to see His power and glory, and that He would reveal it to you' (Psalm 63:1-4).
#2: Read and meditate on the scriptures continually. The more time you spend in the Word of God the more you will be able to understand and glean truths from it. I highly recommend Professor Grant Horner's ten bookmark system of reading the Bible [click here].
#3: Read and study a passage in context and in comparison with other verses in scripture. My youth group leader, Ryan, pounded into our brains that context is king! A common pitfall is to "pull it out of the text" or to apply some meaning to a verse that wasn't intended by the original authors. A good way to stay clear is to read the verses around it. People often say the Bible is full of mistakes or that it contradicts itself, but when you compare scripture with scripture and look at things in context you find that some verses show one side of the picture and you need other passages to paint the full picture.
#4: Studying the Bible can be broken down into three steps: Observation, Interpretation, and Application.
- Observation: What does the text say? Who are the main characters? Are their repeated words and concepts that would imply the themes? Are their important contrasts and comparisons? Does anything surprise you? Where are the major transitions?
- Interpretation: What does it mean? What was the message for the people at that time? What was God trying to teach or show them? How does this passage fit into the larger story of the book and the Bible? How does it point or speak of Christ?
- Application: What does it mean for me or for us? Is there a command or exhortation for how we should live? What is similar about the situation of the original audience with the situation of our lives today? What did God say to them and how would we apply these circumstances in our lives? What does this tell us about God and how should we live in light of that?
Paul Washer, a biblical preacher and missionary, suggests answering the following four questions when applying the scriptures:
1) Who is God?
2) Who is God to me?
3) What has God decreed for me?
4) What has God done/is doing/will do for me/others/world?
#5: Compare what you learn and find with other fellow Christians. It isn't wrong to read and learn from other people. It's wrong to take other Christian's words to replace reading and studying the Bible for yourself, but we need others to keep us on track. If ten Spirit filled believers are saying the same thing about what the Bible says, then you can know if your interpreting the passage the way God intends it to be read (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
We have the privilege of having the inspired word of God in our language. God has not left us to figure things out on our own. He reveals himself to His people every day. Lets take advantage of what God has given us and discover the treasure of who He is in His Word.
Sincerely,
Brooke
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