STUDY

studying.

how many of us love it? lol. well i can honestly say there have been times when i enjoyed studying [if it was a subject i loved] but more often than not, i dont enjoy it.

but, we still study. and we study hard. why is that?

bc we know that in order to be successful in our future, we need it.

back that thang up. "in order to be successful in our future, we need it." [thats a truth right there.] but we dont apply it to the most important subject ever...we dont put nearly as much importance on Bible study as we do on scholastic studying.

we will study all night for a test. we will find all kinds of supplemental books to help us understand the subject better. we will have study groups. we will go to our teachers office hours. we will memorize portions, we will study on the bus, we will fill pages of notebooks. we will make sure we know how to ace that test.

why dont we apply this all to studying God's word? there are so many tests in our lives that we could ace, if we only had the answers...if we would only search for the answers.

but we shouldnt approach the Bible as only an encyclopedia, looking for tips and techniques. Ultimately we can know all the "tips & techniques" the Bible offers for dealing with sin, life, relationships, etc. but unless we know God, we really cannot execute anything it says in the right spirit. [for we are not perfect, yet God is.]

approach the Bible as a tool to know God.
brood over the scriptures so you will know Him as He really is in all His forms.
get to know Him through His stories.
dont forget God as a Person: He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires, and suffers.
read it like a book. like a memoir of your best friends life.
the same tools you use to study for school, utilize in your spiritual life.

im not going to make this any longer. there is so much i can say about studying, one of the most well know disciplines. however, you should read THIS POST that one of my frat brothers, verdell, wrote. wen i read it i was happy he wrote it because i had been wanting to write a post about Bible study tips. but he did it, and its beautiful. check it out.

"the measure of the strength of a man's faith is ultimately the measure of his knowledge of God." ~Martin Lloyd-Jones

lets grow beyond the milk of mere salvation and graduate to the meat of His Word....