Bible Intake #2 Studying God's Word

STUDYING GOD’S WORD

If reading the Bible can be compared to cruising the width of a clear, sparkling lake in a motorboat, studying the Bible is like slowly crossing that same lake in a glass-bottomed boat.

The motorboat crossing provides an overview of the lake and a swift, passing view of its depths. The glass-bottomed boat of study, however, takes you beneath the surface of Scripture for an unhurried look of clarity and detail that’s normally missed by those who simply read the text. Reading gives us breadth (broadness), but study gives us depth.

Two examples of a heart to study the Word of God.

Look up this OT figure Ezra, in this is what we read: "Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

This is a very instructive sequence for us. Ezra:

[1.] “determined in his heart”, [2.] “to study”, [3.] “the law of the Lord”, [4.] “obey it”; [5.] “and teach”.

Before he taught the word of God to the people of God, he practiced what he learned. But Ezra’s learning came from a study of the Scriptures.

Before he studied, however, he first “determined in his heart” to study. In other words, Ezra disciplined himself to study God’s Word.

My favorite example of a heart to study the truth of God is in .

The Apostle Paul is in prison and writing the last chapter of his last New Testament letter. Anticipating the coming of his younger friend Timothy, he writes,

"When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.” ()

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 36). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.13 "When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.” ()

These scrolls and parchments were copies of the written Scriptures. In his cold and miserable confinement, the godly apostle asked for two things: a cloak to wear so his body could be warmed and God’s Word to study so his mind and heart could be warmed.

Paul had seen Heaven () and

The resurrected Christ ()

He had experienced the Holy Spirit’s power for miracles () and

Even for writing Holy Scripture ()

Nevertheless, he continued to study God’s Word until he died. If Paul needed it, surely you and I need it and should discipline ourselves to do it.

There are many reasons we could confess (perhaps laziness, a feeling of being inadequate) but throw all that out the window and remember that God is living inside you and is making you to be just like Christ!

Don’t let a feeling of inadequacy keep you from the delight of learning the Bible on your own. Don’t settle only for spiritual food that’s been “predigested” by others. Experience the joy of discovering biblical insights firsthand through your own Bible study!

Here’s a couple of good questions for us to think about:

If your growth in Godliness were measured by the quality of your Bible intake, what would be the result?

This is an important question, for the truth is, your growth in Godliness is greatly affected by the quality of your Bible intake. In His magnificent High Priestly prayer of , Jesus asked this of the Father for us: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (17:17). God’s plan for sanctifying us, that is, for making us holy and Christ-like, is accomplished by means of “the truth”—His Word. If we settle for a poor quality intake of hearing, reading, and studying God’s Word, we severely restrict the main flow of God’s sanctifying grace toward us.

As I say this, I realize that it would be easy to cause guilt feelings in us all (myself included) over past failures regarding the intake of God’s Word. Above all, remember that Heaven’s door is opened to us not by the works we do (such as the intake of God’s Word), but by the work of God in Jesus Christ. Beyond that, let’s apply the message of to any previous inconsistency with our Bible intake and start “Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead” in this area.

Christian Standard B” in this area.

This leads us to a final application question.

What is one thing you can do to improve your intake of God’s Word?

Unless providentially hindered, joining a group of like-minded believers to hear God’s Word preached each week should be a minimum. Many Bible-believing churches provide more than one opportunity each week to hear God’s Word (Mid-week preaching). Set goals of earnestly attempting to read the Bible every day and completing the entire Book. Also, inexpensive workbooks and study guides on every book in the Bible and a multitude of topics are available in Christian bookstores. My recommendation might be to go to Bailey’s Discount store in North Judson. There they have many sound, Christ-centered books available for some good one-on-one discipleship and growth in Christ.

Let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and gradually and almost invisibly, there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel very, very small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any more, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you for ever to His eternal home.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 39). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 37–38). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 37). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 37). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 36). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (1991). Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p. 35). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.