There are many ways to study the Bible. I'd like to share with you some of the most effective and valuable methods. All of these methods will do you a great deal of good if (1) you mix what you read with faith in God, and (2) you ask God to open your eyes to what you are studying.
This may seem rather obvious, but this is the most valuable thing you can do with the Holy Bible. Just read it. Read it like a book -- or really a library of 66 books. As originally written, the Bible didn't have any chapter and verse marks, so don't let those distract you. Just read it. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through what you read.
Reading the Bible is a lot like eating. The Word of God is food for your spirit. I've read through the Holy Bible so many times that I've literally lost count, but I keep reading it. We need the Word of God to renew our minds and displace the junk that bombards us in this world. We also need the Word of God regularly to feed our spirits and to increase our faith.
If you read just one chapter a day, you can read through the whole New Testament every year. If you read 4 chapters a day (maybe 3 from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament), you can read through the whole Bible every year.
Meditate on the Holy Bible by thinking about what it says. Say parts of it over and over again to yourself. Let it sink in. You can do this just about anywhere -- at school at recess, delivering newspapers, or whatever.
Listen to yourself or someone else read the Bible aloud. I like listening to Bible tapes in my car. Listen carefully, and let your faith mix with it.
Talk about what you are reading with others. This works well in Bible study meetings and Royal Ranger meetings. Listen to what others (including your Sunday School teachers and Pastor) have to say about the Bible. Other people may not be perfect, but they can often offer wisdom and insight into God's Word that you might have missed on your own.
Sometimes you may want to know what God has to say about something. Use a concordance, a Bible study program, or a Bible search engine to find passages that contain key words related to what you want to know. For example, if you want to know what God says about money, you can search for passages with money, gold, silver, wealth, riches, rich, wage, wages, etc. in them, and read those.
Sometimes you might want to use a prepared study guide, which may contain commentary and questions about the passage(s) you are studying.
If a passage of Scripture uses words you don't understand, get your dictionary out and look them up. It might also help to try reading a different translation.
Studying the Bible does you no good at all if you don't mix what you read with faith and act on it. If you do follow God, then you will be rewarded very well.
This page written by Michael Paul Johnson. This web page is not an "official" Royal Rangers page. The Royal Rangers emblem is a trademark of the Assemblies of God. Royal Rangers Emblem©1962 by the national Royal Rangers Office, HonorBound: Men of Promise, The General Council of the Assemblies of God; Springfield, Missouri 65802-1894. The Royal Rangers Emblem may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means--electronically, mechanically, photocopies, recording, or otherwise--without prior written permission from the national Royal Rangers Office.
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This page was last updated 10 September 2000.
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