Bible Study 101 - Notes

Posted by Stout Memorial UMC on Thursday, June 11, 2020

Bible Study 101 - June 11, 2020 

Yesterday we talked about the struggle we have with our flesh vs our spirit. Our struggle to chose life over death. 
Paul explained the struggle in Romans 7 :21 :25a 
"So, I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. I'm a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse? Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 

Today we are talking about how that struggle plays a part in our study of scripture. 
There are many reasons why reading the Bible is a challenge, but the most obvious reason in our own struggle with sin. Reading the Bible goes against our sinful nature. There is a part of each of us that will always resist Scripture reading. Put another way, every time you pick up your Bible and read, you are engaging in a war - a war between the flesh and the spirit - a war between the old self and the new. 
What are some specific sins that impede our Bible reading? 

Laziness? 

Bible reading takes effort. God didn't make it easy to understand I think because God wants to know how serious we are about having a relationship. When we must understand the context in which the scripture was written. We must understand the culture to which it was written. We must understand the Old Testament to understand a large part of the New Testament. However, Proverbs 13 :4 says, "the soul of the diligent will be richly supplied." In our efforts to study Scripture laziness will always be there to fight against us. 
Busyness? 
We live in a very busy culture that has little room for downtime, reflection, and meditation. Scripture study takes time and we don't have much time left in our busy schedules. We must remember the value of God's words. God says they are "silver." They have "hidden treasures." Would we make time to go treasure hunting? Would we make time to go dig up silver or gold if we were promised the return would be abundant? We must be humbled to see that we are often busy with things that are less valuable than spending time in God's Word. Yes, there are times we are doing good things, but we need to see that the Bible testifies that it's a great thing. The truth is, we are often busy pursing the things we place higher priority on, but we need to see that God places a high priority of his Word - it is like a treasure. 

Boring? 

If we are honest, we are often bored with the Bible. It helps to remember that Scripture is a part of God's creation and is beautiful. I agree that reading the detailed account of how the tabernacle was to be built is very tedious. But if we read it in awe of the fact that God is that detailed with every part of our life it is amazing. 

Starting. 
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We have talked about how difficult it is to find a place to start. We have talked about ways to make it easier. But, we haven't talked much about the best way to get started. Asking God for a desire to read the Word is the best way to get started. Be honest in your prayer, 
"God, sometimes I don't want to read your Word; the Bible seems boring to me, I don't feel like I have time, I don't want to put out the effort it takes to really understand. I admit I need help. I know I should study. I want to know you more. I want to find your hidden treasures. Please help me. Amen."