The Road to Maturity through Bible Study
For years, I was a spectator in the church. I had come to a believing knowledge of Jesus Christ. My joy was full and my hunger for God was insatiable. I sat under the teaching of Godly men for years. I listened to teachings on tape and radio. There was so much to learn. Bible reading was very important to me but Bible Study was nothing more than reading my Bible. I had not yet an understanding of the revealed mysteries of scripture. Without a teacher, it was difficult to understand what was being said. Someone introduced me to a Strong’s Concordance. I learned how to use it and began my first stage of real Bible Study. It was still frustrating that one word had so many meanings. One could still so easily be led astray. Later I added Vines to my Bible Study and had a bit more trust in what I saw in scripture.
Over the years I knew there had to be more. How did all these teachers speak with such confidence? They seemed to know what they were talking about. But I knew from what little Bible Study I had done that it wasn’t that obvious. You couldn’t be sure, could you? There was so much scripture to cover. How do you link it all together? I used to sit in front of my old TRS-80 and wish there was some way I could get the Bible in there. But just doing the math, there was no way to do it. Had I thought I could, I would have gladly typed in every word.
A few years later I was in a Christian book store and found a Bible Study computer program for DOS. I nearly fell on the floor. I never knew such a thing existed. I was excited more than I can describe. I found a way to get the money together to purchase it and my Bible Study has never been the same. I bought every add-in I could find. My Bible Study was beginning to take on a new look. I was finding there was much more to the Bible Study than just Bible text and Strong’s. The ability to instantly find scriptures that referred to what I was looking at was easily found. Soon the software was upgraded to Windows and an atlas and bible dictionary was added. I was addicted. I looked for everything I could find. I would look through book stores and computer stores trying to find more.
One time I found a CD at a computer store with another Bible Study program in it. It had something new to me in it. It had something with Tense Voice and Moods. Obviously, I still had little knowledge of the text behind the language and this was exciting to me. I could see more was there than I had known. Using this program, I was reading about where Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 to drink a little wine for the sake of his stomach. When I looked up one the words, the definition showed it to mean Median, or from Mede. I decided that he was telling him not to drink Median wine. Like when in Mexico don’t drink the water. I told people this many times, until I realized on day that it was an error in the hyperlink. I found out that the word in the lexicon was a couple words off and I had foolishly let my excitement get the best of me.
The pinnacle of my Bible Study on computer was when I stumbled on Logos a few years ago. I finally was beginning to get my hands on tools that would really help me not make such foolish mistakes. God has blessed me with so many tools since then that I have come to fully rely on Libronix for all of my study. Bible Study has greatly changed me over the years through the working of the Holy Spirit in my life. I now spend almost every morning from 4 to 7 in the Word. It has become the central focus of my entire life. I now regularly teach a Wednesday night Bible Study at my church. When I miss a day of study due to busy schedule or something else of that nature, I really suffer. It is like going a day without eating. Personal Bible Study and Prayer is the most important aspect of a Christian life. Without these things, your witness and walk will seriously suffer. I cannot stress strongly enough for each of you to get in the Word daily. It is the source of strength for your walk.
Submitted by Dewayne Davis