LET GOD’S WORD STUDY YOU
When I was a young boy, I remember loving baby food. Peaches were my personal favorite. I didn’t think anything could ever beat their taste. Then when my own children were eating baby food I thought I’d treat myself to a taste of their peaches. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. What had once seemed like such a wonderful food item turned out to be bland and almost tasteless. What caused this alteration? The food didn’t change, but my taste did.
I hope by now you know where I’m going spiritually with this. The more we mature in the faith the more we need spiritual meat. Processed and simplified Bible truths are OK, but we need something deeper and stronger to feed our growing souls. Unfortunately, many Christians stick to the simple stuff. They read devotionals and use lesson plans that are about the Bible, but don’t get into it themselves. They let others chew their food for them instead of chewing it themselves.
Sure, we are busy, but there is no quick way to take in the truths of God’s Word. It takes time to read and observe a passage of Scripture, looking for things you haven’t noticed before. There’s no fast way to unearth the gems of the Bible which only come to those who do careful and thorough interpretation. And only precise and insightful application can cause the truths we have been studying to become part of our daily lives.
When we rush, we try to do application before we carefully observe and thoroughly interpret, we miss the real meaning of the passage. That’s like walking into a doctor’s office and after a quick look at you having the doctor write a prescription and send you on you way. A good doctor observes the patient, then interprets what he discovers. Only then is diagnosis accurate and helpful. We want a doctor to take his time and do a good job when checking us, and God wants us to do the same when handling His Holy Word.
When we interpret a passage, we study God’s Word, but when we apply it to our lives, we let God’s Word study us! Very little that we do in a day will be taken with us to heaven – but what we learn in the Bible and its application in our lives will be ours eternally. Don’t spend all your time on daily activities, invest some in eternity. Spend some quality time in the Bible today.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Have you ever tried journaling your Bible study, writing down the personal applications you come up with? Try it today. It’ll help you have better results and will be worth the time.
When is the last time you studied a passage just for your own edification, not for use in a lesson or message?
Which step of Bible study – observation, interpretation or application, are you weakest on? What can you do to improve in that area?
Do you find yourself too busy to have quality devotional time with God each day?
Do you find yourself spiritually empty without anything new to share with others?
What’s your plan? When do you try to schedule regular time with God?
What gives you the most difficulty in spending time with God each day? Is it business, laziness, unconfessed sin, poor priorities…. ?
Who is your accountability partner? Who will ask you the tough questions about your relationship with God? If you don’t have someone (and your mate doesn’t count) then get someone now.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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