Read, Study, and Apply the Scriptures

Read your Bible

We live in a fast-paced society. A society where we are always running to the next job, the next responsibility, or the next thing that will entertain us. Have the demands and pleasures of life displaced your time of reading God’s Word? As Christians, the Bible is what shows us God’s will, His character, and His work throughout history. It should be the most read book on our bookshelf, but sadly it seems too many just don’t reach around to utilizing this “Sword.” In this article, I would like to call us back to a regular and full reading of the Scriptures.

When we pick up our Bible, we always have some expectations of what we will find as we read. Have you fallen into the trap that the Bible simply contains a list of rules to be obeyed? Maybe you think the Bible is a boring collection of stories and facts with only a few “good” verses that can be used to decorate the walls of your house. Others have made it their goal to know every fact of every story and in this manner have used their Bible reading time as a way to learn more facts. Still others have said, “A chapter a day keeps the devil away,” thinking the Bible is a good luck charm against evil. While some of these attitudes might be valid in part, they do not contain the main reason for reading the Bible. When we open our Bibles and begin to read, we should expect to learn to know personally God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. If that is our expectation, then we will surely find Him and grow in our relationship with Him.

I believe that every Christian should take a significant segment of time each day to read the Bible by himself. For me, this is the first thing in the morning when I wake up. I try to avoid distractions (including electronics) so that I can focus more fully on the message. You know your schedule, but make sure this is scheduled as a high priority so that it happens daily. As you read, pray to God that you “might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:10b). Spend significant amounts of time meditating on the text that you read. While family devotions is important, I don’t think this should take away from each individual Christian reading the Scriptures for themselves.

When you pick up a story book, do you open it up at Chapter 7 and start reading for a chapter then skip to chapter 2 and read that chapter followed by chapter 15? No! Instead, you always start at chapter 1 and you read till the final chapter. The Bible can (and should) be read this way also. Start in Genesis 1, reading every verse and every chapter until you come to Revelation 21.  The Bible is indeed a continuous story of God’s interactions with humankind. When reading chronologically we allow ourselves to see the text as a seamless story. If reading many Old Testament stories becomes dry to you, try reading several chapters out of the Old Testament along with one chapter out of the New.  My point is that the Bible was meant to be read completely and chronologically.

Today we have many devotional booklets and books that are very helpful and inspiring. Use them! But if that is our only Bible reading, we only read random chapters scattered throughout the Old and New Testament. Some chapters never get featured while other chapters get covered multiple times in a year. Please understand that there is nothing wrong with devotionals, but if this is our only diet of Bible reading, we are less likely to get a full view of the Bible like God originally intended.

You may argue that Leviticus bores you or that all the numbers in Numbers puts you to sleep. If nothing else, these passages can make us realize that God cares for details. I think that God can use some of the most “boring” chapters to help us understand more of his character. If you have never read the complete Bible, join the host of Christians throughout the centuries that have read the Bible from cover to cover.

When you read the Bible, read it with understanding. If you do not understand what you read, how will you be able to apply it to your life? Take the time to reread the parts you don’t understand and study it more carefully. Some of us have read the King James Version (KJV) from little on up. We heard it in church, we heard it in school, and we heard it in our home. Some have found it helpful to read another version other than the KJV for their personal Bible study. It is not because the other versions are better translations. Instead, this may be helpful because hearing the same thoughts with different wording makes the message stand out more. Our ears get so used to hearing verses in particular ways that they do not sound shocking or even interesting to us. Remember that the Bible is a translation. Each version is aiming to portray it with a set level of accuracy and understandability. No matter what version you are reading for your personal Bible study, make sure you are reading it with understanding.

I want to issue a word of caution about other versions. Don’t use your “other version” as a hammer to hit other people on the head. I recommend using this for personal Bible study. Each church needs to uphold one translation as a standard that is used in church, school, and all public meetings. For my home church, it is the KJV. I support this fully and expect that we will use this in all public readings.

Another way we need to read is with curiosity. After reading something so many times, our curiosity may get dull. Ask questions in your mind as you read. Example questions could be:

Picture the context in which the event was taking place. For example, how did it look when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount? What would you have seen, felt, and heard? While these types of things are not usually stated explicitly in Scripture, they often help to engage our imagination and awaken our minds. A bit of curiosity about the text will help to engage you as you read.

Study your Bible

The Bible is a profoundly deep book with a beautiful message. It was written in a different time period, a different cultural context, and in different languages. Therefore, sometimes a verse or word needs to be studied to understand the fullness of its meaning.

In the following section, I want to propose some basic ways in which we can study the Bible carefully when the meaning is not apparent or when we expect that there is a fuller meaning that we are not understanding.

One thing that we can study is words. Because the Bible is translated from Greek and Hebrew, the words may have unexpected meanings that we sometimes miss. What does ‘grace’ actually mean? Can you explain the terms ‘repentance,’ ‘faith,’ or ‘iniquity’?

To do a study on a specific word, I recommend using a Strong’s Concordance or an electronic resource that provides the same information. Strong’s can show you other verses where this word is used. If we look up other verses that use the same word it might help broaden our understanding of the word in question. Strong’s Concordance gives several other suggested translations for that specific word. These might clarify the broader meaning of the word.

Another way to study the Bible is to research the context. This is helpful because the Bible was written to a different group of people in a different time and a different place. Let’s start with an example. The night before Jesus was betrayed, He observed the Passover with his disciples. You Bible readers probably know all about the Passover and why it was observed, but you have probably never experienced a Passover like a Jew in Jesus’ day would have. So to research this concept, we can look up other passages that talk about the Passover in the Old and New Testaments. We definitely would want to study chapters such as Exodus 12 and Numbers 9. After exhausting the Bible’s resources, we can look to other books and commentaries such as The Unger’s Bible Dictionary. These resources can broaden our understanding because they bring in other information from older works such as Josephus and the Early Church writings.

 When studying the context of a Bible passage, always start with the surrounding verses to understand more of the context. Maybe the surrounding verses explain the verse that you are questioning. From there you can branch out to other books of the Old and New Testaments. Finally, you can research the concept using a Bible dictionary or commentary. By keeping this order, we are putting the Bible at the center of our research. (Note for the young/techy folks: AI might be a handy tool for some jobs, but some old-fashioned research will bring the message to your heart more than an AI generated response.)

Another tool I have found helpful is doing a theme study. There are themes that run from cover to cover in the Bible. Some themes that I have researched are light & darkness, covenants, and marriage. To trace a theme, we can look up key words or simply think of other places that this concept comes up in the Bible. List out these verses/chapters that talk about your theme and study them as a unit. Notice how they might change between the Testaments or in different time periods. Perhaps they don’t change at all.

For an example let’s think of the concept of marriage. The first example is in Genesis when God creates one man and one woman. This concept of marriage can be traced throughout the Bible in many different chapters and verses. The book of Revelation ends with the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” By tracing this theme we can get a better understanding of marriage throughout all of history and into the future. Pick out a theme that you enjoy and trace it throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You will find that your appreciation for the unity of the Bible will grow.

Apply your Bible

If the last section felt a little academic to you, I hope this section brings the rubber to the road. When we read the Bible, we should be reading with this question in mind: How can I obey this passage? Study helps a person to understand with the head, but a true Christian always wants to respond with his heart and actions. It was the wise man that had a lasting house because he heard and obeyed the words of Jesus.

There are a few principles that should be understood as we read. First off, remember that not all Scripture is written as commands that should be obeyed. Take the Old Testament stories for example. You would never think that because God told Noah to build an ark so you should also build an ark. Different styles of writing are called genres. Keep in mind that you will handle a text like the Noah’s ark story differently than you will handle the Sermon on the Mount. Our forefathers have done well at using the New Testament (specifically the Sermon on the Mount) to interpret the Old Testament. We too should view the Bible through the teachings of Jesus and His redemptive work. Much more could be said about the topic of genre, but I believe the most important is that our hearts are soft and ready to accept God’s Word.

There are times that we will read a scripture and struggle to know how this applies to our life. I suggest that we interpret and apply the Bible with prayer. God has promised his Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. Ask Him for understanding of the passage and how to apply it, and he will give it to you. Prayer should be intertwined with our reading and meditating.

As we interpret and apply the Scriptures, we should be remembering to involve the brothers and sisters we go to church with. If we don’t understand a passage, we could ask somebody from our congregation. If you were impacted by a passage, share that with a brother or sister and see how they respond to your application. Listen to sermons at church and allow that to shape your understanding of God’s Word. We should strive to live out the Bible within the community that we are part of. Our church body helps us to interpret and apply Scripture.

As you seek to apply the Scriptures, keep in mind that the response might not always be outward obedience such as things people can see. Instead, some passages may call us to respond in worship of our amazing God. Others might cause us to examine the thoughts and intents of our heart. Nonetheless, our Bible reading should lead to a response whether outwardly visible or inwardly transforming.

So, read your Bible, carefully study it, and apply the truths to your life. Allow God to reveal himself to you through his written Word. Allow Christ – the Word that became flesh – to transform your life with his amazing power.

– DS