Time with the Lord in Bible Study is a Spiritual Discipline that is most important for the Believer. It is a fundamental part of the growth in our Christian life. Proverbs 30: 5 says, “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (CSB) The World English Bible says, “Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
Bible study isn’t just for our encouragement, it is also to learn about the character of God, to know the reason for the hope we have in Him. The more we read and study the Bible, the more we get to know the God who loves us so much that He provided a way of escape from the death penalty of sin. We learn that He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and we learn that through the difficult times of our lives He will walk with us (Isaiah 43:2).
We also learn the fundamentals of the Christian life. The Old Testament gives us the history of our faith. We learn, through the story of the Israelites, how God feels when we turn away from Him and go after other things that would take His place in our lives. (Ezekiel 6:9-10) The Gospels in the New Testament show us how Jesus lived and what He taught, the book of Acts gives us the history of the early church, and through the Epistles, we learn what it takes to live the Christian life in a world full of sin and darkness. The book of Revelation shows us what we have to look forward to at the end of this life.
Throughout the Bible, we see what is acceptable in the sight of God. We learn how to live as Believers, loving the unlovable as Jesus did. (Luke 7:36-50, Mark 2:14-17, Luke 6:27-36) We also learn how important it is to have godly relationships with others (John 13:35). The Bible reveals the foundation upon which our faith is built.
The more we study and read God’s Word, the more we become like Jesus when we apply what we learn to our lives. As we grow in the knowledge of the Word, we cultivate that Spiritual Discipline of Bible study that helps us have a strong faith in Jesus and gives us that firm foundation upon which we can build our life.
Hiding the Sword of God’s Word in our hearts provides us with weapons that we can use against the enemy as he tries to deceive us and cause us to turn away from God. When we remember Scripture to fight back when he attacks, we win the advantage over Satan, and with every battle we win, our faith becomes stronger. The Spiritual Discipline of Bible study and meditating on God’s Word becomes a vital weapon against the enemy of our souls.
As we daily meditate on Scripture, the results of hiding God’s Word in our hearts will pour out into our lives in the way we act, speak, and relate to others, and our relationship with God is strengthened.
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