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The Transforming Power of Personal Bible Study

As a pastor it is both my great responsibility and tremendous privilege to preach and teach God’s Word on a regular basis to the people of the congregation I am called to shepherd. I can think of no other calling or ministry I would rather do, and often find it hard to believe that God allows me to devote my time and energy to proclaiming His Word. Yet, as great a privilege as this is, far greater is the joy and blessing of every child of God, myself included, to know the Creator as my personal Heavenly Father, and to know the Son of God as my Lord and Savior. Serving God is a great joy, but it is only so when it is the overflow of the greater joy of knowing God!

And how do we know God, and grow in that knowledge? God has provided many means to fur-ther the personal relationship we have with Him, including corporate worship, and especially the hearing of the preached Word. But it is mainly through the discipline of personal Bible Study that the individual believer really comes to know his Heavenly Father and grow in his relation-ship to Him. I’ve found that this is just as true for me as a preacher as for any of my brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter what our vocation, our preoccupation is to be with the living God, who delights to reveal Himself to the seeking soul in the pages of His Word, by the power of His indwelling Spirit. Bible Study is the means of daily nourishment for the soul, and no child of God can afford to neglect the feeding of his soul!

Bible Study may take many shapes and forms, but its essence is to read and hear what God has said through those He chose to write His Word, while depending on His Spirit to illuminate both its meaning and its application to our own lives. I find that there is no substitute for time spent in simply reading big portions of the Word on a regular basis, and when I experience dryness in my soul it is usually because I’ve allowed myself to grow lax in this discipline. It is also crucial to slow down and spend time meditating on a given passage when I sense the Spirit is speaking to me through it. Again, the practice of memorizing Scripture is very helpful to further the medita-tion process, as well as giving general ongoing encouragement, and the imparting God’s wisdom and guidance in times of need. All of these practices fall under the general category of personal Bible Study. Any of them can be carried out in a dry, mechanical manner which leads to very little personal benefit. But when we come to God with expectant hearts, believing not only “that he exists” but also “that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb.11:6 ESV), then personal Bible Study becomes not just a meal, but a time of joyful feasting in the presence of the living God who loves us!

Finally, in this technological age, why not make use of all the opportunities God has given us to grow in our knowledge of Him? What a privilege it is to have our own personal copy of the Scriptures! Few believers before the invention of the printing press, and even for many years after that, enjoyed this privilege the way we do. And these days we have many additional bless-ings, not the least of which are personal computers and Bible Software, which greatly facilitate our ability to deepen our study of God’s Word. While I find my Libronix DLS indispensable for sermon preparation, especially in studying the original languages of Scripture, I also appreciate the help I receive in taking God’s Truth into my soul. George Muller, a man of God who founded orphanages in Bristol, England in the 1800’s wisely wrote, “I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. … I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be com-forted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.” Personal Bible Study, by whatever means, is God’s way of transforming the human soul and bringing us to the place where He is experienced as our greatest Treasure, and the source of our deepest joy. May all God’s children make the seeking of His face through studying His Word their highest priority, until the Lord Jesus returns!

Submitted by Darcy S. Van Horn