September 5 - Repost #5

We really are commanded to spend time in God's Word.  Sometimes we simply read it, sometimes we study it, sometimes we work on interpreting it, sometimes it's used as a devotional.  But, all the time that we spend in Scripture, we are being obedient to God.

September 13, 2009 - Commanded to Study the Bible

If we spend any time at all ... ever ... reading the Bible, we will find that God expects us to study scripture and understand it.

Deuteronomy 17:19 reads, "It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.

I have heard, more times than I care to even remember, people telling me that they can't get into religious discussions because they don't know the Bible well enough. I had one person tell me that they were afraid to come to dinner at my home, because they were afraid Dad (a minister) would engage them in conversation about the Bible and they wouldn't be able to speak clearly and would be embarrassed.

When Isaiah speaks of the judgment against the nations and how the animals will take over the city once it has been destroyed, as he explains the process to the Israelites, he says, "Look in the scroll of the Lord and read ..." (Isaiah 34:16a)

Now, Jesus reminds the Jews "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me."

We are told over and over that we should study and learn what is in our Bible.

I love Luke's commentary in Acts 17:11 regarding the Bereans. In fact, this is probably one of my watchwords. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

The searched the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Every day! I would love to believe that your passion and love for God would translate into reading Scripture every day. Heck, I would love to believe that I would actually study and search the scriptures every day. But, we are so easily distracted by everything else in the world that the one thing which ensures our knowledge of Jesus Christ and eternal life is easily ignored.

I think I love Paul's statement to the Roman's most of all, though. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4)

These Words that God inspired in the hearts of the authors of Scripture were written as encouragement to us so that hope remains in our hearts, no matter what.

If we are looking for hope, how can we not look in the one place we are promised by the Lord of Creation to find it?