Pop Quiz
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…2 Timothy 3:16
Pop quiz time! How would you best describe your Bible study?
a. Non-existent (except on Sunday morning or Wednesday night)
b. Casual reading
c. Serious study
I confess to you that for most of my life, I would have been the “casual” reader. Casual reading of the most profound piece of literature in the world is not the right approach.
I had a life changing experience a couple of years ago that kicked up my study habits several notches. You might think I had some kind of tragic event that happened that caused me to look deeply in the scriptures. No, this is not case. I had a Godly woman tell me point blank that God put 66 books in the Bible and He expects me to study ALL of them. This happened at a conference I attended where Kay Arthur (Precept Ministries) was speaking. I was amazed at her depth of scripture knowledge and how passionate she was about knowing God’s word for “yourself”.
All too often, we rely on the pastor and our Sunday school teachers to impart to us all the scripture knowledge that we need to live our lives. That is a great starting place, but it doesn’t hold a candle to digging out precepts on our own. This is where so many of us get stuck – we don’t have a good “system” of study. Can God speak to us when we randomly open our Bibles and start reading? Absolutely He can, because God will speak to us anyway He sees fit. Oh, but there is so much more to getting into the Word than letting your Bible flop open to any old place.
So what “system” can we put into place for more effective Bible study? It can start with a specified time and place to study. This happened for me progressively. I started out sitting on top of my bed with the TV on mute while trying to read a passage. This wasn’t working too well as you can imagine. So I shut the TV completely off, but remained on top of the bed. Well, I had just started a study method where key words in the text are marked with colored pencils. I kept losing all my pencils in the covers, so I ended up taking everything I needed to a table, with no TV, and totally focused on God’s Word.
I always feel so guilty when I hear people say that they get up 5:00 am to study because I am so NOT a morning person (my husband would verify this fact). So my study time usually begins at 8:30 pm or so. For how long you ask? I stay until God is finished speaking to me. Do not get legalistic with your time allotment or you will suck the joy right out of your study.
I cannot tell you the transformation that I have personally experienced from making my study time a priority. It is not just that I have more scripture knowledge, but I have a deeper relationship with God. This is what Bible study is all about – getting to know God. His word is an inexhaustible source of comfort, intellectual stimulation, and life lessons. In other words, it is profitable as 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us. So figure out a system that works for you and get ready to “discover truth for yourself” (quote from Kay Arthur). You can learn more about the inductive Bible study method at http://www.preceptsforlife.com/.