I recently purchased The Daily Grace Co’s Bible study called “Search the Word.” The purpose of this six week study is to show why personal Bible study is important and how to do it.
Even though the information in this study is not new to me, it has been an extremely helpful study and I’ve enjoyed it so much. One of the big takeaways from it is that reading and digging deep into the Bible is not for a select group of special experts. It’s for ALL people. No matter your education level, time, resources, skill…you can read and study God’s Word and learn.
If you go to church every week, maybe you’re wondering why you need more than that. Consider these points:
We should never blindly believe anyone. Know what the Bible says so you can know when it’s falsely used/applied, even if it sounds good.
A relationship with God is personal. He wants us to know him as he knows us. We can’t fully do that if we don’t personally spend time learning about him.
The Bible wasn’t meant for one person. It was written for ALL to read and know and learn. Think about the Epistles written to entire churches. EVERYONE in that church was to read/listen to that letter and then know how to live as Christians.
We have more Bible resources/helps that are more available than ever better in history. Don’t read Greek or Hebrew? We have the Bible translated in our language. Find parts of it confusing? We have commentaries {many online for free!!}. We have it on audio to listen while driving to work or walking the dog. We have dictionaries and atlases and online tips.
You cannot grow spiritually and truly apply God’s Word to your life by only being exposed to it one hour a week. The Bible offers wisdom, comfort, encouragement, help for EVERY SITUATION AND CIRCUMSTANCE. But if you’re just waiting for your pastor to get to a certain passage to glean that wisdom, you are missing out on something you could benefit from now.
So if those are the reasons, how do we do it? This is one of the things I love about the study I’ve been going through from The Daily Grace Co. They break up the process into simple steps with lots of examples and helps. They explain how the Bible works together across every book, major themes and words to look for, how to highlight and underline to see each chapter/books main theme, and more. Using I Peter 2:1-12 as a guide, you read and walk through the text multiple times, adding a new step to each reading. They make it not overwhelming and very doable. Then they show how those same steps can be applied to every Bible passage. There are workbook pages, charts, examples, memory verses. I love it!
This is a great place to start if you’ve never studied the Bible on your own, if you’re starting a Bible study with friends, if working through a chapter study seems impossible or overwhelming. As I said, the information in it isn’t new or earth shattering but it’s so practical and well laid out. It takes the guess work and excuses out!
If you are interested in checking out this exact study, click here.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash