You know that phrase, “trust but verify.” It’s what God wants us to do with the Bible. The reason he wants us to do that is because after we hear it from somebody else, that knowledge needs to be more than hearsay. In the book of Acts, we find an example of how we need to study the Bible in our own lives.
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:11 ESV
Two ways we need to study the word of God in our lives:
Receive the word with eagerness
The key word is “eagerness.” In greek, that word is actually more like “readiness in the mind.” That’s to imply that these people in this verse were more than just enthusiastic to receive the word. They had prepared themselves mentally to wrestle and be open to understand and wrap their minds around the word.
When was the last time we approached the word of God that way? Do you remember when you did? You received all sorts of insight and wisdom from God. You may have even seen things in the Bible that you didn’t even realize was there. That is the type of eagerness we need to prepare ourselves with when we read the Bible.
Examine the word daily*
We need to get into the Bible every single day. It doesn’t matter how much you read or how long you read the word. We need to examine it for however long we can or have the ability to do so. That way we can receive the encouragement and wisdom from God’s word and get to know God better through it.
When we receive the word of God this way, I guarantee that your faith life will change. Moreover, I bet that your life will change. Your priorities will shift, your outlook will have a different disposition, you will even complain less and people may end up liking you more. After all, God favors those who love his word.
Prayer: Father, help us love your word and love you. Your word is so sweet to our mind and yet we don’t take from the sweetness. Allow us the grace to pursue that refreshment daily. Allow it to transform our minds and change us to be more like you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
*Note: Its easier to do this if you have a plan. Check out a Bible Reading plan on YouVersion. I use M‘Cheyne Reading Plan which goes through the entire Bible in a year. But there are others you can use which may work better for you. Just get in the Bible.
No responses yet