The Pastor's Blog

How Do I Study The Bible?

Larry Day

 

People always ask; “how should I study the Bible?  What’s the best method?”  Should I read it front to back, or chronologically, or thematically, or in one year, or in 90 days – what’s the best way?  Being a plodding type of person, I’m of the opinion that there is no short cut, no fast track,  no magic method that is going to be a “best” way.  I think it’s basically the old school process of… just read it!  Read the Bible over and over again—not once, or twice, or three times,  but many, many times.  That’s really all anybody can do – is just read it. Read it until you become familiar and cognizant of its contents, until you are so familiar with your Bible, be it KJV, ESV,  or The Message, that you can close your eyes and visualize the passage and locate it on a specific page exactly where it belongs.

 

When I was a novice musician I used to practice my scales trying to remember all the sharps and flats and key signatures as well as the different fingerings for each scale. It was information overload. I recall an occasion when I was observing an experienced professional musician warming up; watching him effortlessly and flawlessly perform the same exercises and scales that I labored through.  I marveled at his ability to recall all the information.

 

When I asked him how he could possibly remember all the details - and perform them with such ease he replied that he had done it so long that is was automatic, that he did it without thought and without effort.  I think this is how it should be with our best results at studying the bible. It should become spontaneous; involuntary.  We should get to the point that we have read the bible so often, so prayerfully, so thoughtfully, so earnestly, so diligently that it comes to us instinctively on where to locate a passage. When the facts and data of the Scripture are in our heads and our hearts then we can safely rely on the Holy Spirit to interpret those facts and data – instead of relying on someone else to find and interpret them for you.

 

Christians must be taught and trained. To teach is to cause to know; to train is to cause to do; knowing and doing are related as a means to an end, as a cause and effect. “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”

 

Theory precedes practice.  Even as a novice musician it was apparent that my practice would be unproductive if I didn’t prepare myself on the theoretical side. As a piano player I had to learn the lines on the treble clef staff:  E, G, B, D, F (Every Good Boy Does Fine) as well as the spaces F,A,C,E (FACE).   Then I had to learn what notes were played in a major scale, and why, as well as what fingering to use. Only after I understood these very basic things could my practice become more productive.  

 

Just as in music, in Bible study theory precedes practice. How can someone do anything unless he knows how it should be done?  We not only have to be taught, we have to be trained. We have to learn the theory; we must acquire the practice and knowledge as a means to an end.  I know, it doesn’t sound very inspired.  You want to just pick up the bible, randomly pick a scripture and then have wisdom pour out to you.  Yeah…that’s gonna work.  Okay, in plodding terms…. here’s what I mean about Theory precedes practice as it pertains to Bible Study:

 

To  study bible you need to be born again. This is not optional. You don’t have to know how to read Greek or Hebrew – but you must be born again. It isn’t the mind that makes the theologian; it’s the heart.

 

To  study the bible you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Not only is the heart changed at salvation but the Holy Spirit renews our minds. The bible says that…The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV).   So, a natural, person isn’t going to accept the truth that the words of Scripture are in fact the words of God. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

To study the bible you have to have a ravenous appetite for the bible.  Christians who don’t have an appetite for the bible are sick. In the same way a person with no appetite for food is sick, or on his way to being sick.  You have to be able to put your heart into the work for studying the bible – if you’re not hungry for it then it simply becomes dead works, a task, a drudgery and it fails.  Cultivate your appetite!

To study the bible you need a work ethic.  Hard work.  Men don’t find gold nuggets lying around on the surface of the earth. They have to look for them, and the deeper they dig, and the harder they work, the more precious treasure they find. There are no rewards for laziness.  The Word is infinite and inexhaustible, but the great need is for the hard work to diligently study it.

To study the bible requires obedience.  When we discover a new truth in the Scripture it has to be create a change in our conduct and become part of our character.   When we get our heads crammed with knowledge it’s like a ship with all its cargo on the upper deck – it’s top heavy ; a very dangerous and unstable condition.   Likewise, scriptural truth has to move down from the head to the heart.  If we don’t respond to the light that we’ve been given then God may refuse further light until I live up to what I have and obey him in what I know.

To study the bible requires humility.  “If a man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing that he ought to know”.  Disciple means: Learner.  God actually resists the proud – but he gives grace to the humble.   It seems to be a true observation that the people who know the most think they know the least, and the people who know the least think they know it all.

To study the bible requires constant prayer.  What happens when you read a passage of the bible and it doesn’t make any sense to you – what do you do? Consult your various commentaries? Yes, that’s fine…but get down on your knees and ask God, “what does that passage mean”?   Then, get up and study it some more. If it still is baffling get down and pray about it some more.  Then get up and go to work and let it roll around in your mind. Confess to God that you need His wisdom to understand it.  Continue to pray and ask God for revelation.  Martin Luther had a motto: “To have prayed will is to have studied well.” 

 

So, how do I study the Bible?  Theory precedes practice.  Consider these theories and then get  practicing!

Run the race to win!

Larry