Early in my college career a professor gave his advice, intending to save students money. (At that point in my life I was highly receptive to any tips that would reduce my expenses.) He told the class that teachers often don’t use supplementary books that the college schedule indicated were required. He recommended against purchasing all of the (rather expensive) books before class, and to wait until we had received more specific, in-person instruction.
I took that recommendation to heart. In the subsequent term I purchased the primary textbook ahead of time, but did not secure the supplementary one. That proved to be a mistake. The new professor required reading from the supplemental book on day one. I hurriedly contacted the bookstore after class, but it was backordered. In the classes during the delay I found myself becoming agitated with the professor as her teaching points didn’t seem coherent. Internally I was also dismissive of other students’ comments because what they said didn’t make sense.
It wasn’t until I had the book in hand that everything changed. As I caught up on assigned reading, I realized the instructor had been teaching directly from that book and student responses matched it as well. Once I was in the book, everything fit into place. I was the one that lacked context. I was the one out of place.
My mistake was preventable. It was clear the book was mandatory, but I latched on to what I wanted to hear. I opted for the shortcut. The same thing happens every day to Christians and their Bible. They know it’s required reading but dodge the discipline. They want the blessings of diligent study without the requisite time and effort. They want to know God’s will, to receive His affirmation and to enjoy His good favor without a genuine commitment to His Book. They want a shortcut.
The Book, however, is where the answers are found. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Do you want to experience lasting fulfillment? Praise songs won’t give that to you. You have to read the Book. Do you want to know how to act in a way that pleases God? Podcasts won’t get you there. You have to read the Book.
It’s in the Bible that God tells Christians to study the Bible. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). How would you rate your effort level when it comes to studying Scripture? Are you “doing your best” to accurately understand and teach others what it contains?
If you mean it when you pray the words of Psalm 119:18 that says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” then, by definition, your eyes must be open in front of the book that contains those wondrous things! According to John 14:26 the Holy Spirit was sent to teach things that were previously said by Jesus. The Spirit will cause you to remember what you read in the Bible, but He doesn’t infuse God’s word into your brain out of thin air. The sermons the apostles proclaimed after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were based on what they had studied and personally observed with Jesus. Even the Holy Spirit-inspired “utterance” they were given was explained by an Old Testament passage. It’s all tied to the Book.
When you look for alternatives to study of God’s word, you’ll find yourself questioning the Professor and agitated with fellow Christians. Your life will be marked with frustration and you’ll misinterpret what’s going on around you. When you commit to ongoing, diligent study of the Book, you will be trained in righteousness and made complete, equipped for every good work.
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Ps. 119:97–99)