No Bible Studies Allowed

May, 2009

by: Ruth Hammer

… He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:4).

Through the years I’ve heard comments from women about how glad they were to get back into a Bible study after the summer recess. Seems they feel lost without it and are less motivated to study the Word when there is no printed study guide before them. Or they don’t know what to do to study the Scripture on their own. Does that relate to you?

Think about what you would do if the day arrived when the Body of Christ is forced once again to meet in private homes because the organized church has been removed from the public square, the doors are boarded over, or the building has become a museum. If there is no women’s Bible study because there is no church meeting place and there are no printed lessons to work on, what will you do? Let’s get prepared to do biblical self-feeding in ways we are not accustomed to. We need to do this now.

If you have fallen into the trap of thinking a lesson guide handed out at church is the only way to study the Bible, read on. When I was a young wife and mother, there were NO such Bible studies or prepared study guides! If I was going to study God’s Word, I had to come up with a way to do this myself, and so can you.

There are many ways to have a do-it-yourself study of the Word of God.

You can prayerfully read consecutively through a book of the Bible or several books of the Bible, a passage at a time.

Stop to frequently think through what you are reading, discovering how one verse or concept builds upon another, how the next thought adds to the previous one, etc.

Look for answers to the age-old questions: who, what, why, when, and where.

Mark verses or phrases that God uses to speak to your life.

While reading, if you come to a list of qualities, as in 2 Peter 5:4-8, write them down, then examine further the reasons why God wants us to pursue them. An example of what sins we are to avoid and what commands we are to obey are found in Ephesians 4:32. Write them down and pray about how your life measures up.

See what you learn about God in the passage. What are the attributes or descriptions of His character that you find?

If you have a good study Bible (such as the MacArthur Study Bible), read the accompanying notes and look up references. Or look up verses that you find in the margin notes.

Journal your thoughts regarding how this applies to your life and what you will do to change things in light of that truth.

You also may go to our church website and look for the Classes link where you’ll find a series on How to Study the Bible.

How will you study when there is no organized Bible study? YOU are responsible to feed yourself the enduring truths of Scripture. Begin today to learn what God has written in His marvelous Word to teach us “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).