|
Personal Bible study can enhance your relationship with God. However, Bible study can be intimidating to most and downright discouraging for others. Perhaps you have always wanted to learn more about the Bible and have been frustrated like so many others.
The first mistake made when learning how to apply God's Word to your life is treating the Bible like it is one book. In reality the Bible is one book, but it consists of 66 separate books written over 1500 years by over 40 different authors.
When people begin in Genesis, which is the first book of the Old Testament and continue through in order, usually they can get frustrated by the time they reach the third book, which is Leviticus. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with reading from the beginning and continuing to the end. As a matter of fact, I would highly recommend that you do. If you can that is, if you don't give up first.
Let's look at the Bible like a book filled with spiritual treasures. If you were looking for a treasure in your back yard, because your grandfather told you he hid one there over 75 years ago, you probably wouldn't start at the mailbox, work your way down the driveway, search the basement, first floor, second floor and the attic. You, like most smart treasure seekers, would go directly to the back yard saving much time and aggravation.
Like a set of encyclopedias, if you wanted information about the state of Missouri, you wouldn't start with the first book that begins with "A", reading about Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, then moving through the alphabet to California, Delaware, Florida and so on, until you finally reach your destination at Missouri. No, you like most smart students, would go directly to the "M' book, locate Missouri and begin gathering information.
If you want to learn about eternal life, death, sin, redemption, repentance, regeneration, salvation, heaven or hell. The Bible provides the answers for all these questions. And it would take many months, if not years to learn about any one of these topics, if you started at the beginning and continued through to the book of Revelation.
You also can use tools for Bible study. Can you imagine doing a science experiment with just one textbook. Sometimes you need water,
measuring cup and a scale to gather accurate information. My favorite tools for Bible study are a King James Bible, a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and the Webster's 1828 Dictionary. With these three tools I am well on my way to hours of Bible treasure seeking, allowing the scriptures to interpret themselves. God doesn't need my help interpreting his Word ,so I let the Bible tell me what it's saying.
The Bible is filled with imagery and symbolism. It is also quite literal. When an image, parable or symbol is used, I must find out from other scriptures what God means with the symbol. If God wants me to know what that symbol means, it will be found elsewhere in the Bible. If I can't find it in the Bible, I must not guess, assume, or put my own interpretation to it. I must leave it alone like many theologians have in the past, and accept that God has a reason for not revealing that area to man yet. Some things we will just have to wait for till we are in eternity.
A simple study of one word or one symbol in the Bible, with the help of your Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Webster's 1828 Dictionary will encourage you and allow you to get closer to Christ in no time at all.
|