Journey of the Word

What to study in a Bible study. You’d think the answer would be simple: the Bible. But things don’t often turn out that way . . .

The announcement has been made: your church is offering a Bible study.

You arrive with eager anticipation, only to be handed a top-ten-bestseller and set in front of a screen to listen to some popular author-speaker for awhile.

Please understand – there is nothing inherently wrong with a study like this, but one thing is certain – this is NOT a Bible study.

You, my friend, have just joined a book study. Where you will study a book. And meet to talk about a book and discuss a person’s ideas – dotted with Scripture, no doubt – but a mere book nonetheless.

And books are great. But The Book is greater.

So, please – have your book study! But call it a book study.

And, better yet – scrap the book study, and have a Bible study.

Or if that sounds cruel – keep the book study, and add a Bible study. Or three. Or ten. Because, honestly, we can’t have enough, and at the moment, we have next to none in this book-crazed, so-called “Bible-lovin’,” evangelical world. I don’t mind reading what someone else has studied, but really, I want to study the Word for myself!

“But a book study helps me study the Bible,” you say.
And it may. But a Bible study will help more.

“But I don’t know how to study the Bible on my own,” you say.
Read the Bible, think about it, and talk about it. Done.
{More tips here and here if you must.}

Study that Book, and see if it won’t cause you to lose your appetite for all others {because steak vs. PB&J}.

. . . and change your life. It’ll do that, too.

 [image credit: unsplash.com]