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Bible Study: Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

"Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. 'Do you understand what you are reading?' Philip asked." (Acts 8:30, NIV)

Before I began to think deeply and engage in bible study, I would read reflectively on occasion, usually when troubled, and typically only one or two passages that I "knew", generally Psalm 23 or Psalm 100. Typically I heard the Bible read in church, and from time to time would hear it quoted in a speech, an essay, or a college classroom (usually out of context). I realize now that I really didn’t know the Bible, and frequently, relying on others quotes and misquotes, I didn’t understand what the Bible was saying.

I began Bible study more seriously as I came to a personal relationship to God in Jesus Christ, simply wanting to hear the gospel story, and learn more about Jesus. I began with the Gospel of John, while on a Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas conference in Vancouver B.C. One night I stayed up and read into the wee hours, and was startled and delighted when I came to the passage in John 15:15 where Jesus tells the disciples that "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

Because I was searching, hungering and thirsting for both a sense of lasting relationship and an understanding of what was the meaning of ultimate reality, I was “surprised by joy” as C.S. Lewis says, and began the journey of faith. I finished the Gospel of John, and proceeded in my Bible study to read 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Ephesians, where spiritual gifts and the body of Christ and relationships are talked about, thanks to an adult leader who guided me.

Learning to love the Word of God in Bible study was not difficult at all. Perhaps it was God’s timing in my life, but having been an English major in college I enjoyed reading, and reading deeply. What I was finding in my Bible study, in contrast to the literature of the ages, was answers to the questions they were asking, promises made by One who is faithful, hope in the dark times, and encouragement to live a life based on faith in God.

Early on, my heart began to move increasingly toward the things of God, such that my dreams of going into law school seemed to sour, as I sought a career more in line with my ongoing Bible study, and growing convictions.

Soon, it seemed to me, I was looking into "full-time Christian service," and wondering what it all might mean to change course, let go of certain dreams, and move toward what seemed a great unknown. The longer I was engaged in Bible study, the more certain passages would appear like God’s command to Abraham "The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you." Today, I read the Bible every day, in the morning, after my prayers, by going to the Daily Bible Reading Guide at dailybible.com, and I engage in Bible study at a deeper level three times a week, once on my own and twice with others. Together, as we share we teach each other from our life stories, integrating our experience with what the Word has to teach us. In my personal study I use Logos Bible software, the Libronix Digital Library System, 3.0. I look at several translations at once, usually the NIV, the NASV, the Message, and the Greek and Hebrew texts if I’m really getting serious. I also benefit from their Life Application Bible, the Barclay’s Commentary, and the host of Bible dictionaries, and reference works like the New Bible Dictionary, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, and Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.

Unless I pray before my Bible study, however, I can read too quickly, too lightly, too carelessly, and I am not open to what God’s Spirit has to teach me. Unless I apply what I am learning, I am, as 1 Corinthians 13 warns against, “an empty gong, or clanging symbol.” Bible study with the heart of God’s spirit is the most exciting thing in the world!

Dare to commit yourself to Bible study! It changed my life, I think it will yours, too. All scripture is inspired by God, and will guide, guard, correct, teach, encourage and empower you if you open your Bible and read it with the same earnestness you would read a favorite author. I like to underline important passages, write notes in the margins, put dates by passages where God spoke to me. I have a Bible for study, and a special Bible for simply reading, but even then I write in my special Bible too. It’s great!

You know, I’ve been reading the Bible for some time know, and I’m always amazed that when I open God’s word for Bible study, there are new applications, insights, and help that I’ve not been able to find anywhere else. Life changes all around us, but when we read the Bible, we’re coming face to face with God, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. When I’m happy I read the Bible, when I’m sad I read the Bible, when I really have an issue that troubles me, I don’t just read the Bible I sit down and do heavy duty Bible study. I have never been disappointed.

Submitted by John H. Doty