God And His Word - A Question And Answer Approach To Understanding The Bible

LESSON 6: SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE MANNER OF OUR BIBLE STUDY l. WHAT IS THE BEST TIME FOR THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES? It should be at a time that you can have every day. It should be at a time when your faculties are keenest. It should be at a time when you can have the greatest privacy and quiet. 2. DOES THE BIBLE ITSELF SUGGEST A TIME? The Bible emphasizes the morning hours, beginning the day with the Word of God. It gives strength for the day. If we have had our Bible study, nothing that happens during the rest of day will take it away. Psalms 5:3; Exodus 34:2. 3. HOW MUCH OF THE BIBLE SHALL I READ AT ONE TIME? Read until some passage of Scripture really grips your heart! Read at least a chapter - don't be stingy with God's time. 4. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE AFTER BIBLE STUDY? Follow your Bible study with MEDITATION; that is, think about what you have read. Ponder, muse, and reflect on the things of God. Andrew Murray said, "The intellect gathers and prepares the food upon which we are to feed. In meditation the heart takes it in and feeds on it." Psalms 1:1, 2; 19:14; 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97, 148; Joshua 1:8; Note Psalms 104:34: "MY meditation of HIM." 5. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO MAKE NOTES? By using a small notebook or the margin of your Bible, thoughts are clarified into a permanent form. This gives a record of how God has spoken to you day by day, and it also helps refresh your memory concerning things that God has given you. NOTHING WILL ENCOURAGE CAREFUL READING AND MEDITATION more than the recording (in ink) of what we have found from day to day, in our private notebook, or diary, or in the margins of our Bible. 6. IS BIBLE STUDY EASY? It is real work to study the Bible. Bible study is the STUDY of the Bible, not dreaming over it, or arguing about it, or defending it. The Bereans SEARCHED the Scriptures (Acts 17: 11); Paul says that in dividing the Word of Truth, we are to be WORKMEN (2 Timothy 2:15). Dr. G.

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