The Ground Rules (Part 1 of 3)
Before we get into God’s word, there are a few ground rules that we must go over. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us that we ought to be workmen who are unashamed, who correctly handle the word of truth. So, let us begin by talking about the some of the conditions for studying the Bible. This video is the first of three about the ground rules of studying Scripture.
First, in this lesson we will go over what it will cost you. Yes, the best things in life are not always free, and in this case there is a cost involved—but it’s not what you think.
There are three costs involved in studying Scripture.
Cost #1 – It will cost you effort.
Building a good habit is not always easy, especially in the beginning, but it is always worth it. People say that it takes six weeks to establish a habit. Do you have six weeks that you can consciously commit the effort to establishing a Bible study habit? After that, it won’t be hard anymore, and you’ll find that it’s easy to continue with the habit. If Bible study is a priority to you, or if you want it to be a priority, commit to discipline yourself for the next six weeks to study God’s word every day. At first, it will be hard. Your mind will not be used to it. You will find your mind running in a thousand different directions and you’ll feel the urge to close the Bible and do something else. Resist! That may be the devil trying to side-track you or it may be your own human nature that just wants the easy path—either way, resist the urge and focus! It will take some effort on your part, but the rewards will be worth it. Just stick with it!
Cost #2 – It will cost you openness to God.
The Bible is God’s word to us and no one knows us better than He does. When He speaks through his word, he speaks to me and to you; he speaks to our hearts. Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” So, when we study the Bible, we must understand that God is speaking to us and our lives are exposed before him. He is able to speak directly to our hearts. When we study God’s word, our hearts and our secrets lie open before him—there is nothing that He does not see and to which he does not speak.
If you think that you can study God’s word and keep the secrets of your heart comfortable, then you are wrong. That is the wrong way to study the Bible. There are too many people who study the Bible as if it is just something to be observed and commented on. We do not study the Bible like it is a work of Shakespeare or an essay by some philosopher. Rather, we study God’s word like it is a love letter written to us—it is His love letter to us. You wouldn’t read a letter from your loved one and do it in a mechanical and cold way. Instead, you would pore over the words, capturing the feeling and emotion in every phrase and every sentence. If you read something that was joyful, you would rejoice; if you read something that is sad, you would cry; and if you read something that told you more about yourself, you would listen well. It is the same with God’s word—his message to us is not to increase our knowledge, it is to help us, encourage us, and change us. All of this will only happen when our hearts are open to what God may have to say to us.
Proverbs 8:33-35 says, “Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord…” Let us be men and women who listen intently to God, waiting and watching for him. If we do so, then we shall reap great rewards in our Bible study.
Cost #3 – It will cost you openness to change.
It is a travesty that some people who know the Bible extremely well are some of world’s most immoral people. It’s unnatural. We don’t study the Bible to increase our knowledge; we study the Bible to change our lives—that is, to be more like Jesus Christ and to know God better.
If we are going to handle the word of God rightly, it means that we must be open to change when we read God’s word. James 1:22-25 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
I remember a time when the truck I was driving broke down several times on the backroads. Several times I got out my toolbox and repaired the truck well enough to finally get to the next service station. When I got out of the truck at the service station, everyone there was strangely looking at me. I didn’t know why until I walked into the bathroom and saw my face in the mirror—my face was covered in black smudges from when I had wiped sweat out of my eyes with oily hands. Of course, I quickly washed my face so that I was more presentable. James tells us that God’s word is a mirror that shows us what we are like. It exposes the sin in our hearts. It exposes our bitter secrets. It shows us where we are wrong and how we must change. If we ignore God’s word, we are no better than the person who sees that his face is dirty and walks away without doing anything.
When we study God’s word, perhaps the hardest pill to swallow is the idea that we must change. Change does not come easy. But the changes that God wants to do in our lives are worth it. God has told us how to live our lives; he has shown us how to live life to the fullest. His word is not burdensome; his commandments are there to help us and protect us. 1 John 5:2-3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
As you diligently study God’s word, you will have to change. You cannot read the command to rejoice always and continue to complain about everything, you must change. You cannot read the command to love your brother and continue to live with hate in your heart—that is hypocritical. God knows what is right for us and he has made it known in his word. Now it’s up to us to read it and obey it.
So, are you ready to bear the cost of Bible study? These three things: effort, openness to God, and openness to change, are what is required to study God’s word as a worker who is not ashamed and who rightly handles the word. So, are you ready?
I hope you are and I hope you’ll stick with us as we continue to learn how to study God’s word in a way that is enjoyable, practical, memorable, and meaningful.
