Yes, it takes precious time out of your week that could be spent with friends, family, cramming for a test, and catching up with projects at work. Whereas those investments of time give only temporary benefits, God\u2019s Word gives salvation and eternal life. A moment in the Scriptures is never a moment wasted. When we gather together as the church to sit at Jesus\u2019 feet, as Mary was content to sit and learn from her Lord, we chose the \u201cone thing needful,\u201d Jesus\u2019s saving Word, which will not be taken away (Luke 10:42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. You\u2019ll learn God\u2019s desires and plans for your life<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bible\u2019s relevance wasn\u2019t limited to the Hebrews who heard it preached in their Temple and Synagogues. Neither was it limited to the Apostles\u2019 first century hearers. Its truths are both divine and eternal. This is a result of its singular author. Books by human authors are always limited in what they can offer. Their insights which are praised as sublime in one generation can just as easily be ignored in the next. The Scriptures, however, are not fallible words of men, though men wrote down the words. St. Peter writes, \u201cNo prophecy of Scripture comes from someone\u2019s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit\u201d (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Holy Spirit himself is the author! Which is why St. Paul writes, \u201cAll Scripture is breathed out by God\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16). Unlike human words, God\u2019s words will never be forgotten. Though some people put down their Bibles and despise God\u2019s Word, others will hear, believe, and be blessed. Isaiah preaches, \u201cThe Word of our God will stand forever\u201d (Isaiah 40:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spiritual guides, experts, and mystics promise all kinds of ways to discover eternal truth, usually at a price. But God has sent his wisdom to you in a Word that you can hear, read, and understand. Its truths are spiritual, of course. It imparts heavenly truths about who God is and what he says and thinks. More than that, they impart eternal life and salvation. St. Paul says the Holy Scriptures \u201care able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus\u201d (2 Timothy 3:15). But they\u2019re also practical. They teach you the kind of life God finds pleasing. They teach you how to tell the difference between the good works that uphold God\u2019s gifts of life and the wicked works of sin which tear down what God has blessed and called good. St. Paul explains that the inspired Scripture is \u201cprofitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To read more about how the Scriptures reveal the life God wants you to have and live read Psalm 25:4; Proverbs 2:6-11; and Psalm 119:105.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Your faith will be confirmed and strengthened by hearing the Gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Scriptures are full of commands to teach, speak, and hear them (Exodus 19:6; Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 6:7; Mark 16:15; 2 Timothy 4:2; etc.). Your Bible is less a book to be studied, as you would pour over a textbook to pass a test, and more a book of promises that are meant to be proclaimed and believed. The promises are about Christ. As you read, mark, and learn its passages, your conscience will be comforted and set at peace by Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection. The Old Testament teaches who he will be and what he will do. The New Testament teaches how Jesus fulfilled all the promises of salvation. Jesus himself says, \u201cEverything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). St. Peter preaches, \u201cTo him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.\u201d The phrase, \u201cthrough his name,\u201d means preaching. St. Paul says that \u201cfaith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ\u201d (Romans 10:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faith saves. That faith isn\u2019t something we stir up in our own hearts. It\u2019s a gift from God that he gives through hearing the Word. Bible Study is God strengthening and confirming your saving faith. It\u2019s God giving you the gift of a good conscience and the hope of eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. You get to learn more about your Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re not born knowing our Bible\u2019s table of contents. Neither should we expect to absorb Bible knowledge and literacy from public schools and Netflix. The world has forgotten the basic biblical truths that serve as a foundation for human life, so much to the point that it\u2019s assumed that two men can be married and that infants in the womb don\u2019t count as human beings. It used to be that you could mention the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark, David and Bathsheba, and Jesus\u2019 miracles and your fellow Americans would know what you\u2019re talking about. That\u2019s no longer true. If folks don\u2019t speak about the Bible\u2019s story at home, among friends, or in school, how are we going to keep this sacred history in our minds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you come to Bible Study, you\u2019ll learn about where the books come from, who wrote them, and how they fit into Jesus\u2019 story. You\u2019ll learn about the two chief teachings of Law and Gospel and how to distinguish them. You\u2019ll learn about how the Bible\u2019s history is the world\u2019s history. You\u2019ll discover that amid the rise and fall of civilizations, God remained faithful to his people by giving them his Word. You\u2019ll learn about how real people were saved by God\u2019s grace through faith. Their lives are examples for us. Hearing about their faithfulness strengthens our own faith. \u201cTherefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin, which clings so closely, and run with endurance the race that is set before us\u201d (Hebrews 12:1). And again St. Paul writes, \u201cNow these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of ages has come\u201d (1 Corinthians 10:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
St. Peter says he doesn\u2019t preach \u201ccleverly devised myths,\u201d but he, with all the other prophets and apostles, are eyewitnesses of God\u2019s majesty revealed on earth through the person of Christ. St. John also preaches,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life\u2014 2 <\/strong>the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us\u2014 3 <\/strong>that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 <\/strong>And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complete your joy also by learning about God\u2019s saving intervention in our human history. Learn the complete truth about how God became man in the person of Christ. Learn how for thousands of years God\u2019s people were waiting for the fulfillment of their hope. Learn how their faith, like yours, was not put to shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. You get to ask your pastor questions about what you\u2019re reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your pastor has been trained to teach what\u2019s in the Bible. That\u2019s his job. He takes the eternal and practical truths of salvation and preaches them for every man, woman, and child in his congregation. St. Paul told the pastor Timothy to do the same. \u201cI charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching\u201d (2 Timothy 4:1-2). That\u2019s how Timothy was to \u201cfulfill\u201d his ministry (vs. 5), by devoting himself to \u201cthe public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching\u201d (1 Timothy 4:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take advantage of what your pastor has been taught. It\u2019s not to the Ethiopian Eunuch\u2019s shame that he had to ask Philip for help understanding what Isaiah wrote (Acts 8:30-31). It gave Philip the chance to fulfill his God-given ministry of preaching the Gospel. The results were for the Eunuch baptism, salvation, and eternal life. Nothing has changed between that time and now. Asking questions about the harder parts of the Bible to understand will give the Pastor a chance to explain how it fits into Jesus\u2019 story. It will give him a chance to preach the Gospel and for your to be blessed by hearing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Fellow saints encourage you\u2019re study and growth in Christian knowledge and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trying to fight off the attacks of your flesh, the devil\u2019s temptations, and the world\u2019s enticements is impossible by yourself. The Lord, Jesus, never intended you to fight alone. \u201cThe Lord your God fights for you\u201d (Deuteronomy 3:22)! He has also surrounded you with Christian brothers and sisters who share the same temptations and attacks. When we are weak, they can be strong for us. They can offer up prayers and supplications for us to God\u2019s almighty throne. But how will they know about our needs if we fight as a spiritual army of one? They won\u2019t. Seeing your fellow saints struggle and persevere in the faith will give you hope and remind you that no temptation from the devil or bodily weakness can rob the church of Jesus\u2019 redemption and salvation (Romans 8:38-39).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as you are encouraged by the communion of the saints as you receive Jesus\u2019 body and blood at the altar, seeing your Christian brothers and sisters ask the same questions you\u2019ve been pondering and pestering the pastor with the same problems that have been struggling with will encourage you to continue searching the Scriptures for saving answers. The Word of God will not fail you. It will give you Jesus who has overcome the world (John 16:33).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you want the same church experience as the first followers of Christ in the days after Pentecost? Bible study is the perfect opportunity to imitate their faith. \u201cAnd they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers\u201d (Acts 2:42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. You get to encourage fellow saints in their study and growth in Christian knowledge and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The author to the Hebrews writes, \u201cLet us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the Day drawing near\u201d (Hebrews 10:24-25).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be mindful of how to help your fellow Christians to remain strong in the faith. The simplest things are sometimes the best things to do. When you come to Bible study, even if you\u2019re not all that enamored with the Pastor\u2019s style of teaching and you think that you\u2019ll not get anything out of it, your fellow saints will see and rejoice in that you took the time to come. They\u2019ll see your faith and want to imitate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n St. Paul writes, \u201cRemember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith\u201d (Hebrews 13:7). Do you consider yourself a leader in the church? Have you instructed your children in the faith in the home? Then set an example in the church that others can imitate that relies not on men\u2019s wisdom and strength, but on God\u2019s which he delivers through the Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. It keeps God\u2019s Third Commandment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never doubt that going to Bible study is a good work. It is, as Luther describes, the opposite of despising God\u2019s Word. It is holding it sacred by hearing and learning it. Though it might seem a chore, though you\u2019re worried about your pastor boring you to sleep, come with the knowledge that God sees the fruits of your faith. Come with the assurance that the angels in heaven rejoice to see you reading and studying, within the fellowship of saints, the words that give life and salvation. If you can\u2019t make it on Sundays, find another study during the week to attend. If you never attend a study because you just don\u2019t have time in your schedule, consider what those competing activities are in comparison to God\u2019s lasting and abiding Word. This Lent find the time to be in the Word with your brothers and sisters. Be blessed with them, as a member of Christ\u2019s body, the Church, with the Water of Life, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus gives without measure and can be found nowhere outside his saving Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To God alone be the glory!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, it takes precious time out of your week that could be spent with friends, family, cramming for a test, and catching up with projects at work. Whereas those investments of time give only temporary benefits, God\u2019s Word gives salvation and eternal life. A moment in the Scriptures is never a moment wasted. 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