This next series of lessons is about the Bible and the importance of using it to grow in your relationship with God.
Many Christians say they love God and want to know Him better, but they don’t do anything to actually learn more about Him. They say they want to serve God, but they don’t take the time to read His Word to find out just how to do that. Take time to read the Bible—it will encourage you every day and strengthen your relationship with God!
Q. At this point in your life, how much of the Bible have you read?
Q. What thoughts do you have of trying to spend more time reading and studying the Bible?
By taking the time to read God’s Word on a regular basis, you will grow spiritually and be able to stand firm when difficulties and deceptions come into your life. Every moment of every day your mind is flooded with information … most of it from the world’s viewpoint. The Bible is the primary way that God communicates his desires for His people to His people! The Bible is nothing less than the words God himself chose for us to hear! The Bible is God’s “Road Map” for your life. The Bible is your guide to righteousness peace and stability.
Your life and the decisions you make are greatly influenced by what goes into your mind and heart. In order for God’s viewpoint to prevail in your life, you must really study God’s Word … and not just for a few minutes each day.
The Bible is not just one big book, but actually a collection of 66 smaller books written over a period of at least 1600 years by about 40 different authors. Everything the authors wrote was inspired by God.
God will not love you more because you read the Bible, but the Bible is His way of helping you to grow in your relationship with Him. Your relationship with God has been sealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ … now it’s time to learn more about God! By taking the time to read God’s Word on a regular basis, you will grow spiritually and be able to stand firm when difficulties and deceptions come into your life.
If you received a special letter or email from God … telling you how much He loves you … giving you guidance and direction for your daily issues … would you read it? Would you keep it, treasure it, memorize it, and continually think about it … like a letter you receive from one of your cherished friends? That’s exactly what the Bible is … God’s letter to you!
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.” —Colossians 3:16
Q. As you look at this verse, what is it saying to you today?
Q. What do the following verses reveal about God’s Word?
“Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” —2 Peter 1:20–21
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.” —Hebrews 4:12
In the early 1700s (!) author Matthew Henry said: “If you want to get close to God, you must study his Word.” The Bible is the primary means that you have to know God and what He wants for your life.
The whole Bible can be summed up in five words: Preparation, Presentation, Propagation, Explanation, and Consummation. As we look at all of scripture, we find that the whole Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Preparation—The entire Old Testament
Presentation to the world—The Gospels
Propagation to the world—Acts
Explanation of how to live for Him—The Epistles
Consummation of everything in Him—Revelation
Q. From what you know about the Bible right now, what one word would you use to describe it?
The Bible is God’s “Road Map” for Your Life
If you were trying to drive to a distant small town you had never been to before … would you drive by your emotions and instincts … or would you look at a road map? While the road map won’t tell you what’s just around the curve, or how bumpy the road is … it will keep you from heading in the wrong direction, giving you guidance for your trip.
The Bible provides the “road map” for your journey with God. It gives you God’s wonderful promises for each step of the way.
“The road of life can be a baffling route indeed: smooth at times, but sometimes full of potholes…one day a well-marked expressway, the next a maze of detours. But your heavenly Father has provided a road map—the Bible—to keep you moving in the right direction.” —Closer Walk New Testament
Every day you do things out of habit. You get up, eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, go to school, go to work, etc. In order to make God’s Word part of your life—you need to make it one of your daily habits. Pick a time, then pick a quiet spot and spend time reading the Bible and thinking about how it applies to your life. Once you have done it for thirty days, you will have established a habit that will change your life!
Q. As you think about the routine of your day, when would be a time that you could spend some time with God by reading and studying His Word?
God’s Viewpoint
The Bible gives you God’s answers to all of life’s most important questions regarding:
God’s Nature
Your Purpose
How to Grow in Christ
Moral Decisions
Relationships / Sex
Emotions / Comfort
Trials / Death
Henry Brandt and Kerry Skinner once wrote, “Your love for God is demonstrated by the place that His commandments occupy in your life. You must study His Word to learn what His commandments are.”
To follow God’s Word as life’s guidebook requires a familiarity with the commandments and a keen sense of the place that they have in God’s order. A serious study of the Bible will give you an understanding of what God requires of you and what you can expect from God … for it is the Bible that is the guide to righteousness, peace, and stability.
Application
Q. On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it to you to take time to learn from God’s Word?
Q. What one step can you take to make reading and studying God’s Word more of a priority in your life?
Additional Study
You may find it helpful to obtain a copy of What the Bible Is All About by Henrietta Mears. Dr. Mears was one of the great Bible teachers of the 20th Century. As Christian Education Director at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, she built one of the largest Sunday Schools in the world and wrote a curriculum that was in such high demand that to publish it she founded her own publishing company! Such notable Christian leaders as Richard C. Halverson, Luis Evans Jr., and Bill Bright were among her students. Dr. Billy Graham once said of her, “She is certainly one of the greatest Christians I have ever known.”