Studying God's Word

I'll never forget one woman I encountered in my ministry.  We'll call her "Linda."

Linda had a great heart.  She wanted to serve and make much of Jesus Christ.  She sought to help out our youth ministry in innumerable ways.  She always gave money to needy students or opened up her house when we needed a host home.

Her heart was in the right place.  Her ideas were not always the best.  Often she would encourage me to study up on wild theories about the government or conspiracies.  All the while, she would attach a Bible quote she found on a website article about it.  "It's right there in the Bible," she would say.

Because a story contained a Bible quote, she assumed it was scriptural in nature.  That was enough for her.  She would constantly hand me articles to research.  I'll be honest.  I never did.

Just seeing a scripture verse doesn't make something biblical or even of God.  Many people have mined the Bible for out-of-context quotes to justify their actions or movements or even their political agendas.  It's up to us, as believers, to study the Bible for ourselves so we're not easily deceived.

I found this true while watching the Bible miniseries on History Channel.  I believe the heart of the series and it's creators was in the right place.  They highlighted God's repeated intervention in history to bring us into relationship with him.  Many of the visuals were stunning.  Some of the story elements, however, didn't match up with scripture.  There were times, while watching, I'd look at my wife and comment about the various inaccuracies in the story.

Again, it's up to us, as believers, to study the Bible so we know what really happened.  We need to study the story of Samson to see his strength didn't leave him because he cut his hair, but from his poor decisions in following God.  We need to study the life of Thomas to see he isn't just a doubter of Jesus' resurrection, but often a defender and fighter for his Lord.  We need to study Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount so we know his intent for preaching.

When we study scripture, we need to dig deep.  What does the passage say?  Whom was it written to?  What themes does it include?  Do other parts of scripture discuss these themes?  What is the application for our world today?  Those are all questions we consider when studying God's word.

We are tasked with studying scripture.  We must test what we know with what the Bible says.  Only then can we be sure of God's viewpoint and not easily confused when others claim to know God's truth. 

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