We invite you to join us for Bible Study Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. as we explore the Bible and its application to daily living. All Classes are age appropriate and utilize structured student and teaching materials to guide and expound on key scriptures.
4 Tips for Studying the Bible
Everyone has their ups and downs when it comes to personal Bible study. It’s hard to develop the right disciples to make Bible reading a daily priority, but there are some things that can help make it a bit easier.
1. Invest in a good study Bible
The Bible is difficult to understand even for a guy like me who has a four year theological education and has the luxurie of spending paid working hours studying it. For the average working joe (or joan), it can be even more difficult. Good study Bibles include extra articles and comments that help readers understand difficult passages. They’re also full of maps and other interesting images that help the brain process information. I personally love the footnotes that tell me about related passages that connect to the scripture I’m reading. Spending $50-$100 might seem like a lot, but it’s a worthwhile investment for anyone who wants to get more out of their Bible reading. Plus, a good leather-bound Bible will probably last you 10-15 years of daily reading if you treat it well.
2. Quality over Quantity
Many people put a lot of pressure on themselves to read through the whole Bible in a certain amount of time. Slow down! You’ve got your whole life. It’s better to read a little and understand it, than it is to read a lot and have no idea what’s going on. Start with a few verses or just one chapter a day, digest it, pray about it, and memorize a part of it. You’ll get a lot more out of it.
3. Prayerfully Reflect
A good technique for reading scripture is to read a verse or two, stop, reflect on it, and then pray about what it said. For example, you might read 2 Timothy 1: 7 which says “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.” When I reflect in this I realize that if I’m full of the Holy Spirit, I shouldn’t be afraid to live out my faith. Any fear doesn’t come from God! So I’ll pray for a greater awareness of the Spirit so I can live in boldness. Then move on to the next verse.
4. Look for Jesus
The whole Bible is about Jesus. In some areas he’s more obvious than in others, but if you look, you’ll find him on every page. Jesus told the Pharisees,
You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5:38-40).
You’ll often come upon stuff in scripture that’s confusing, distracting or even disturbing. It’s really easy to get off track into secondary issues. If you focus on looking for Jesus in all of these places, he’ll keep you on the right track. Jesus is the great interpretive tool for scripture.