Effective Bible Study
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bible Lessons on Bible StudyThe story is told of a man who had an unusual mode of Bible study. He would quickly flip through the pages of the Bible with his eyes closed, would bring his finger down on a verse, open his eyes, and that verse was supposedly his God-given inspiration and exhortation for that day.
One morning as he brought his finger down on a verse referring to Judas, it said, “he …. departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5 KJV). He didn’t particularly like that verse, so he thought that God would add further instructions if he tried again.
The next time his finger pointed to the latter part of the verse that says, “Go and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37 KJV). Being very perplexed on what to do, he tried again. As he placed his finger on the next Scripture, it said, “That thou doest, do quickly” (John 13:27 KJV).
He then had his God-given exhortation for that day — just as Judas went out and hanged himself, so “you go and do likewise, and do it quickly!”
Dear reader, the idea of being careful about “how” we study God‘s word, is very important in effective Bible study. Paul described this process as “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). The phrase translated “rightly dividing” (Strong’s 3718), gives us the idea of a skilled craftsman cutting something straight.
In the context of Bible study, it means taking the time for diligent, careful, and systematic study. It means teaching the truth logically and correctly.
Let’s never engage in a haphazard or hit-or-miss study of God’s word as the man did in the story at the beginning of this article.
Accurately discerning and teaching God’s truth to others, must be the priority of every conscientious follower of Christ (1 Peter 3:15; cf. Colossians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:1-2,24-26).