The Bible can be studied as literature, history, theological doctrines,
and so on. All of these methods of study may contribute to the heart
life, or they may not. Certainly, if we read with the help of the Holy
Spirit and better understand the Bible, we would gain from it. But
there is no necessary connection between the literary study of the Bible
and a strong Bible influence in your life.
1. Personal Problems
To gain this influence you must, in the first place, read the Bible with your personal problems before you.
Are you worried? You will have your favorite passages of peace to which to turn, or you will take up some strong book and explore it for new passages helpful in such circumstances.
2. Meditate
In the second place, when you have found your bit of help-it may be only a single verse-stop right there and meditate on it. Apply it to yourself, asking yourself such questions as these:
- How is this an example for me?
- Do I keep this precept? If not, why not? If so, do I keep it perfectly?
- How can I improve my observance of this command?
- Have I realize this promise?
- Have I observed the conditions?
3. Read Persistently
Thirdly, you must read
persistently. Wrestle with your Bible as Jacob wrestled with the angel,
and say, "I will not let you go till you bless me."
The blessing
is there for you, as it has been there for others. Read often and
long, until you find it. And remember that one Bible passage made
thoroughly your own is better than a thousand that you have read hastily
and not appropriated.
4. Read in the Spirit of Prayer
Fourth,
you must read in the spirit of prayer. In answer to prayer, God sends
revelations of truth that will not come to you in any other way.
Confidently expect those revelations in answer to your earnest
petitions, and you will not be disappointed.
5. Obey
Finally,
you must obey what you read. When a truth for your life is flashed
upon your mind, flash it into a deed. Make haste to obey. Provide the
conditions in which the promises can be fulfilled. Test God's Word in
an obedient life.
It is useful to set yourself some Bible goal
for each day or series of days, just as Ben Franklin set himself goals
of moral excellence which, bit by bit, he would attain.
Today,
for example, your Bible reading points out patience as a needed virtue,
and your conscience adds its confirmation. Try today to carry out the
Bible injunction you have fallen upon, and tomorrow add other passages
to it, and so continue specializing on patience until you realize it.
Then go on to another virtue or grace.
It is also occasionally
useful to give yourself a sort of general Bible examination. Ask
yourself, "How do I stand with the Book?" To answer that question is
more important than for any business person to balance his account
books. Take one of the great testing passages, such as the twelfth
chapter of Romans, and hold your life up against it, point by point. Be
faithful, as the Book is faithful, and day by day you will make
progress in the Christian life.
An Introduction to Bible Study by Amos R. Wells, 1909
