How to Know If You Need Your Bible
I’ve been studying Colossians lately and in the end of chapter 1, we’re told how we become “holy and blameless and above reproach.” That sounds like a good, spiritual thing to want, right? How do we get that way? “If you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast.” When I read that word “steadfast,” I immediately thought of James 1:2-4.
I’ve found that God always has different ideas of what’s good than I do. I would like to be steadfast by doing easy stuff. But no. Brace yourself as we read how we grow. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (Get your Bible and read the next few verses about stability as well.)
We grow by going through hard stuff. But if we’re going to withstand hard things, we need roots. We have to be rooted in Christ. We have to know that His truth says it’s worth running after Him even with the hard things.
Have you ever prayed one of those prayers that you meant but that simultaneously made you want to take cover? One like, “Lord, I want you to use my life.”?
Full stop: I’m not sure I’d like to be one of God’s favorites, like Mary or Job. From a human standpoint, those are ridiculous stories. Let’s all acknowledge that the people that seem to be really used by God have some difficult stories that we would not pick to live out. That’s really what we are asking for when we pray for God to use us.
I want to not pray those prayers because I like comfort. I like ease. I like for things to be happy and light. But I’m also increasingly convinced that this life is short and eternity will be unimaginable and if I have to pick one to live for, I want to pick well.
I have to be in my Bible if I’m going to choose well. I’ve been discussion this with some friends lately; we’ve been talking about how there seems to be a resurgence of a desire for Biblical literacy. We’re so excited. But I also know a lot of people who think it’s not a big deal. They’ll “just go to church and listen to the pastor.” Which is great, but it’s not enough.
What I’m not talking about is reading “Jesus Calling” or another type of Bible replacement devotional. I”m talking about opening your copy of the Word of God and reading and studying it. I’m talking about making time to find out what God says and then holding everything up against it. I don’t just mean holding culture up to the Word. I mean holding the words of commentators and pastors and theologians up to the Bible.
Bible study can sound intimidating. That’s why “Jesus Calling” and the like is so easy. Open it to the date and read. Then close it and go on. But the Bible is big and often confusing and full of contexts that don’t fit the culture and society of 2017. So here are some ideas.
Show up.
Meet with Jesus. Decide you’re going to read to know God, not to impress people. Determine to open your Bible and read, not for a checklist but to desire God. This is step number one. Show up.
Ask the right questions.
Ask “What does this passage say about God?” before you ask “What does this passage say about me?” The Bible is a book about God. The Bible tells us who God is and what He does before it says anything about us. All the stuff about us is in context with who God is.
Ask “What did this say to the original audience?” before you ask “What does this say to me?” The passage does not say something to you that it did not say to the original audience. Now this is where finding out the original context is helpful. What was society like? What was culture like? What did this passage mean to them? Look at the original Greek and Hebrews words. (This is much less complicated than it seems; we’ll talk about this again in a minute.)
View it correctly.
Jen Wilkin talks about seeing your Bible study as a savings account that you are depositing into instead of a debit account that you are drawing out of. Most people go to the Bible for a warm, fuzzy thought to put into their pocket and hold throughout the day. And sometimes, when you get into the Word, that’s not what you get. Often, when you get into the Word, that’s not what you get. You are putting in a little layer, day by day by day, in a wall of truth that you are building in your life. Not snatching out cotton candy to snack on. It’s work. It often feels like you aren’t accomplishing anything. Do it anyway.
Gather with others.
Meeting with other people helps hold you accountable. It gives different perspectives on the interpretations of passages. It allows for discussion about the topic. These are things you can’t get on your own. I meet with a discipleship group where we are walking through sections of the Scripture. I have friends who are actively studying the Word and we discuss what we are learning together. We talk through confusing passages, add clarity and other perspectives, and encourage each other to keep studying.
Use some tools.
One of my favorite tools is Blue Letter Bible. I have their app on my phone and iPad and I can quickly look up any passage and see the original Greek or Hebrew and where else those words are used in the Bible. I can compare translations and read commentaries, all right in the app. You can google introductions to all the books (And She Reads Truth has those introductions in their Bible, plus maps and other resources).
As we know God, we are lead to worship Him. And worshipping Him leads us to change. Read Philippians 2:5-18 if you want to know more how seeing Jesus impacts our lives. In that passage we see who Jesus is and what He did for us (verses 5-8). Then we’re shouting about the coming exaltation of the Savior when He is recognized by all of creation (verses 9-11). Then that seeing Jesus and worshipping Him leads us to change how we are living (verses 12-18).
Worship is not just standing and singing in church, although that can be worship. Worship is seeing God for who He is and praising Him for that. And sometimes that’s on your face beside your bed at three in the morning when you don’t see what God is doing in your life and you’re tempted to doubt what He says. Sometimes worship is getting up and moving forward because we believe that God is faithful even when we don’t feel it.
You may have choose to believe over your feelings when you walk through hard times. But you have to have something to believe over your feelings and you only find that in your Bible.
You want God to use your life? You might be asking for difficulty. But God is enough to sustain us in that difficulty and allow us to impact eternity.
