🎵We wait on you.
Lord, we wait on you.🎵
Ama sprang up from her bed awakened by the loud music from her alarm. She had promised herself she was going to take her Bible study seriously. She selected her favourite Theophilus Sunday song to shift the atmosphere. Pen in hand, journal wide open, she picked up her Bible. Unsure of what to study, she trusted the Holy Spirit to magically lead her to what she needed and opened her Bible in faith.
Leviticus??
“Leviticus is boring, it’s just laws and laws. Let me try again.”
Revelation
“This book is too difficult. There are so many books and stories in the Bible, how do I know which one to read?”
After 10 minutes of struggling, Ama settled on reading a chapter from Proverbs.
I feel you, Ama. Like most valuable things, Bible study can be complex if you aren’t armed with the right knowledge and tools. Many people do not know how or what to read when they open their Bibles. Fret not, I got you covered. There are many ways of studying the Bible, but today we’re going to learn about only three of them.
1. Book study
This involves devoting time and attention to a particular book of the Bible. For instance, studying the book of Matthew in the month of January. I will pay attention to the one who wrote it, why and when it was written. The major themes of the book and how I can effectively apply them to my own life.
2. Character study
A biblical charater’s life is highlighted and studied. Esther’s story is covered in the book of Esther. Samson’s in the book of Judges. Jesus’s life is in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and His ministry is literally scattered throughout the Bible. Here we learn about the timeline of their lives, their strengths and weaknesses and how we can apply those to our lives. They lived so many centuries ago but what they went through is what some us are going and will go through.
3. Topical study
This involves tackling a particular subject. For example, I choose to do a topical study of the subject of faith. Thanks to technology, you can go online and google all the scriptures about faith and learn these scriptures thoroughly. You can also use a concordance (a reference tool/book that provides an alphabetical listing of Biblical words along with their Biblical references) to find scriptures on the topic you want.
Since we are experts now. Let’s give our good friend Ama some tips on how to study her Bible. Let’s ask her some questions.
Us: What would you like to study?
Ama: I don’t know. I just want to be consistent in my Bible study.
Us: What has been your major concern this week?
Ama: Actually I’ve been praying about some things for some time and there have been no results so far. I feel like giving up, I don’t think it is possible for me to see it manifested.
Ama goes on and on about her situation, as good friends we let her pour out her heart, console and encourage her.
10 minutes later…
Us: This reminds me of Abraham. He trusted God for a long time before he received his miracle. He was such a man of faith. There are so many scriptures in the book of Psalms that will greatly solidify your faith in God’s ability. I can also send you a list of all the scriptures on faith so that you study and prayerfully meditate on those.
Ama: Thank you for the advice. I think I’ll go with studying about Abraham.
Us: That’s a great choice. I’m rooting for you.
Let's analyse our advice to Ama:
The part about Abraham is …….
The part about the book of Psalms is ………
The part about a list of scriptures is………
Fill in the blank spaces (lol).
None of these methods is above the other. Your method will depend on your priorities and how the Spirit leads you. The most important thing is to build a structure and not study your Bible as your feelings dictate. Whichever method you use, the goal is that you are studying it and not just reading it. These two are very different. We read just to get the content but we study to get the context and the value God has stored in the scriptures for our lives.
Don't forget to take your journal, a pen and an open heart along to the study table.
I pray that Bible study does not become a chore for you but you grow to enjoy it.
Comment below the method you find most fascinating(those stated above and those not stated) and share this with anyone you think will be blessed.
See you next week. Happy studying.
See you to next week as we are kept by Him. Thanks for the education, we pray for it's application as we apply ourselves unto them. God richly bless you