August 22nd, 2024
11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
One of the first things I distinctly recall in my early years of converting to Christianity was getting my very first Bible. It was a very different feeling for me. I was only used to hearing the Bible taught and read on Sunday mornings, and then I had to shift into reading it for myself. Certainly, it is one thing to hear the Bible preached at you and something else entirely for you to encounter the living word yourself. But for many reasons, we not only find ourselves struggling to read the Bible but also growing weary in genuine study. But how should we thoughtfully approach studying the Bible? What if we've never done it before? Hopefully our devotional today will help get you started.
Our passage tells us a story of how a group of people responded to the gospel message taught by the apostles. The early apostles encountered many people in their journey and they faced a variety of responses to their message of Jesus Christ. Some readily accepted and some outright rejected. However, in this instance we see that the Berean Jews were more noble in character. They received the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. This is an exceptional example of a people willing to go to the lengths of studying the Scriptures. It wasn't a one-day feeling of suddenly wanting to study the Bible just to forget about the next day. There was an intense eagerness to look deeply into the words of Scripture and see for themselves the truth that the Lord might be speaking to them.
This is the heart of the true Bible study. It is not done for the sake of gathering mere information about a topic. It is done with the intention of deepening our belief in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Some people have concluded that reading the Bible should be simple and require minimal work. As soon as you believe that, you will always be disappointed when certain passages don't seem to make sense. Real Bible study will require each one of us to engage spiritually, mentally, logically, emotionally and even physically with the texts of Scripture. This is because God is desiring to transform all of you by the power of His word and not just inspire you with a few good quotes (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is a book that is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, there can be no such thing as casually browsing through the Bible. The only way to read it, is to allow the Word to read you. This means we must be ready to do the work necessary to truly understand the words God may be speaking over us every single day.
To do this well, all of us need some level of guidance and assistance. Attempting to read the Bible randomly without some sort of structure will ultimately be unhelpful for you. To keep it concise, here are two things you can keep in mind as you study the Scriptures: find meaning and find application. Firstly, discover the meaning of the passage. You must determine the true, intended meaning of the passage you're reading. Not what you "think" it means, but rather what the author originally desired for it to mean. Secondly, take that meaning of the passage and apply it to your own life. Find out how this Bible passage connects directly to our own walk with the Lord. What is God asking of you? How can you incorporate this into your prayers? It is vitally important that you find the meaning first before you immediately apply the Bible to yourself. This will guard you against misusing the Bible and coming to the wrong conclusions.
If you truly want to deepen your study of God's Holy Word, we highly recommend following some of the tips listed below.
- Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal the meaning of the Scripture to your heart.
- Purchase a good-quality Study Bible. These Bibles contain study notes about each Book and verse in the Bible to guide you into the right meaning of any given passage. For our recommended Study Bible: Click here.
- Research. Read other books or online articles about your Bible passage. They may give you a fresh perspective on what God is trying to tell us. Click here to see a list of websites we trust.
- Ask your Pastor. To really confirm your study of the Bible, check with a Pastor who can guide you in the right direction and even help you apply it to your personal life.