Drawing Closer to God: Don't (Just) Read the Bible

By Judy Wallace

Probably at some point you, like I, have determined to follow a “read-through-the-Bible-in-one-year” plan. Then you get to Leviticus and there is the peace offering, the guilt offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the grain offering, etc. That is when you start to read the Bible, scan the words and simply let your eyes go over the text so you can mark off that box for the day.

For the Bible study discipline of our CLOSER theme, it states — learn to study and understand the Bible. Reading through the Bible in a year is a wonderful goal. I think everyone should do that at least once in their lifetime. But instead of just reading your Bible, study and strive to understand it.

As an example, let’s do a word study on the word “study.” This word “study” is translated that way only twice in the New Testament and both times they are found in the letters Paul wrote.

To the church at Thessalonica he said, “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you” (I Thess. 4:11). Then, in II Tim. 2:15, Paul writes, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

The interesting thing about that is, the words used in these two verses are not the same word! The word used in Thessalonians means to “strive earnestly, make it one’s aim, to move into action by a love of honor.” That particular word is used two other times in Scripture and is translated both as “strive” and as “labor.” Paul wanted this church to know that it should be their aim to live out an honorable life of service, equipped with their own God-given gifts and motivated by love to obey these commands.

The word used in Timothy means “to hasten and exert one’s self, endeavor, give diligence.” As his mentor, Paul encouraged Timothy to put in the time and effort to know the Scripture as a way of honoring God and being confident in sharing the truth.

Each word for “study” is best suited for each situation and recipient. At first, I didn’t know the difference and would have assumed they both meant the common meaning of study and gone on. But when you take the time to dig just a little, what a blessing is ours to see that our Almighty God inspired each word to give an exact message to the writer to pass along!

Now you see why I say, don’t just read your Bible. Study to understand it and see how the message God had for those people at that time has application for us as well.

Scripture — John 16:13; II Tim. 3:16,17; Psalm 119:105

Prayer — Father, I would be clueless without your Word. Thank you for writing it! Thank you for preserving it throughout the millennia. Thank you for allowing the precious Holy Spirit to live inside of me. Who better than the author Himself to lead and guide me into all truth? May I never take it for granted. May I never neglect it. May I always hunger and thirst after righteousness. Time spent with You in Your Word is what fuels my life. Speak to me each day as I search for guidance and enjoy Your presence.

Respond — Do a word search in a Bible concordance from a verse you read this week. Download a Bible app that contains several helps for your study. There are many good ones! I use the Blue Letter Bible. It is free and offers a concordance and commentaries. It tells you all the other verses that contain that word, will read the passage to you if you learn best by listening and offers several other helps.

“Without spending time in God’s Word, we tend to forget what matters to Him,” Charles Stanley.

— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs