A Vacation Lesson About Bible Study
A vacation experience my family recently shared brought home to me once again the importance of careful, attentive Bible study.
Last summer, my wife and I and our small children spent a long weekend on British Columbia’s Mayne Island with my sister and parents. One of our favorite activities on the island is kayaking, and a neighbor several houses down graciously offered us the use of his kayaks. The quickest way to get from the bay-front house where we were staying to the kayaks was along the island’s rocky shoreline.
There were eight of us and only two kayaks, and so we made numerous trips back and forth along this hundred-yard stretch of seaside rock as various pairings took their turns on the water.
Eager to take our turn or to share our adventures with those back at the house, we’d scramble along the rocky beach, barely noticed the many tidal pools left by the receding tide, until one time my mother stooped to look in. She noticed a little crab in the pool and halted to take a closer look.
Calling a few of us over, she pointed out three or four small hermit crabs she could now make out in the clear water. These crabs were at home amongst seaweed and barnacles in this water-filled crack in the rock. As our eyes adjusted to the scene, we soon made out more crabs and other small bug-like creatures; then some small fish; then some worm-like animals; then, weirdest of all, a mean snake-like creature, several inches in length, which would occasionally stick its out of its small hole.
One of us broke open a small clam and decided to feed its contents to the crabs, and we all stood around, mesmerized now, as we watched the crabs fight over scraps of dinner. Then, surprising us all, the snake-like creature shot its head out of the hole, stretching a full four inches, grabbed the clam-meat, and disappeared back inside. We gasped and then laughed at this unexpected event.
Here we all were: transfixed, surprised, and amused at all of the life in this little pool. It contained a veritable carnival of interesting creatures and goings-on, which, to think: we’d hurriedly walked by so many times in the past, without even noticing it was there.
Later it struck me: Bible study is like that. How often we are too busy to stop and notice the riches waiting for us in God’s word! Yet when we do stop, when we stay long enough to let our eyes adjust and to notice what is there, we find many surprising and captivating details.
I’ve been trying to take this lesson to heart in my own Bible study. Here are a few strategies which have helped me.
- Reading several translations has enriched my Bible study. Like several pairs of eyes staring down into the tidal pool, I find that each translation helps me to see the passage in a slightly different light. A more literally translation, like the NASB, also helps me to notice words which recur in the original language of the text, giving me clues as to the intentions of the author.
- Reading a good commentary has deepened my Bible study. Commentaries are easy to ignore because they are often dense and technical, but I’ve learned to be patient with them. Often, they will point out details and connections that I never noticed. How much more rich my family’s experience around the tidal pool would have been if we had had an expert marine biologist at our side. Perhaps we would have had to endure some of his or her technical explanations which didn’t particularly interest us, but it would have been well worth it to have a pair of expert eyes to point out and explain what we couldn’t see and understand on our own.
- Listening to Scripture on audio has refreshed my Bible study. It’s powerful to stare into a tiny tidal pool and marvel at the intricate creation God has placed there, but it’s all the more awe-inspiring to look up and see water and sky, trees and rocks – a vast and beautiful symphony echoing and expanding the praise of the tiny pool. Likewise, focusing in on the details of a Scripture passage can be rewarding, but I sometimes find that I lose perspective. I often find that listening to the larger portion of Scripture in which my particular passage is found breathes new life into the passage and sets it in context, helping me to regain the bigger picture.
We certainly live in a busy world today. I wonder how many other tidal pools and other similar small wonders I’ve rushed past without even noticing. Thankfully, for now, one tidal pool has helped me to discover afresh the wonder of Bible study. And while I can’t often return to Mayne Island, I return regularly to that treasure store where I am often transfixed anew by all of the riches waiting there to be discovered in God’s word.