“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:8
Of the over 16,000 Greek and Hebrew words used in the Bible, the Hebrew word for “success” is used only once—in the above quoted verse. So here is the one place where God offers us a guarantee of success! But the conditions on our side are plainly set forth: studying and storing up God’s Word in our minds, making it the fixed point of our thought and meditation, and that knowledge must lead to obedience.
Not only will most people—even most Christians—not find prosperity and success, most will stand unapproved and ashamed one day before God because of their lack of diligent study and corresponding sloppy and incorrect handling of God’s Word! Every great heresy in the history of the Christian Church has been started by someone mishandling and incorrectly interpreting God’s Word. Because of laziness and ignorance, the lovers of the Bible have done and continue to do more harm than the haters of the Bible!
I would like to make some practical suggestions to help you get started. First, take time to prepare yourself spiritually for your Bible study time. Before going to God’s Word, go to God first and ask that His Holy Spirit “guide you into all truth” by illuminating your heart and mind (John 16:13).
Second, have some theologically sound biblical tools and aids on hand. These include: several translations of the Bible, a paraphrase or two for reference, a study Bible, a recent concordance, word studies, a Bible dictionary, and commentaries.
Vary your approach to Bible study. The Bible can and should be studied from many different angles. Each one will yield a rich treasure of knowledge. Several suggestions are as follows:
- Thematic or Doctrinal Study—Study the great doctrines of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation: God, man, sin, salvation, etc.
- Word Study—Here, instead of studying the doctrines of the Bible, you study the words that teach us the great truths of God’s Word.
- Character Study—Go through the Bible and study the great heroes and patriarchs of the faith: Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Paul, etc.
- Study by Outline—To really begin to grasp and digest a portion of the Word or an entire book, it is very helpful to outline it.
Let me also say a word about reading and memorizing God’s Word. This is a lost discipline in Christianity today. When I first started to read Watchman Nee, I was amazed at his spiritual understanding and overall grasp of the Bible—especially when some of his major works were written when he was in his 20s! He supposedly read the Bible through 105 times before he wrote his first book! Throughout his life he averaged reading the Bible through about once a month. No wonder God blessed him so much!
You may not become a writer like Nee, but if you take God’s Word as seriously as he did, it will eternally enrich your life!