Coach’s Corner

A nominating committee was interviewing a prospective Sunday School teacher. They asked, “Do you know the Bible?” “Yes, I do!” “What’s your favorite Bible story?” the chairman asked. The candidate replied, “I like the story of the good Samaritan best.” “Fine,” said the committee, “tell us that story.”

So the man began his account of the famous parable. He said, “There was a good Samaritan going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among the thorns, and they sprang up and choked him and left him half-dead. So he said, ‘I will arise!’ and he arose and came to a tree for forty days and forty nights, and the ravens fed him. Then Delilah came along with a pair of shears and cut off his hair, and he fell on stony ground. He said again, ‘I will arise!’ So he came to a wall, and Jezebel was sitting on that wall; and he cried out, ‘Chunk her down!’ So they chunked her down. He said, ‘Chunk her down seventy times!’ And great was the fall thereof and of the fragments that remained they picked up twelve baskets full, but whose wife will she be in the Resurrection?”

That about sums up the average Christian’s knowledge of the Bible. Lots of bits and pieces, but they can’t quite put it all together. And for most believers, it’s because they’ve never committed themselves to study the Bible. Many don’t know how and don’t know where to start. I won’t try to answer “where” here… you need to start where it makes sense to you. But I will give you a few tips on how.

• The first way we have to approach the study of the Word with is consistently. Look at Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2. Both verses contain the same phrase that signifies consistency: “day and night”. Does this mean that we are to have our nose buried in our Bible every moment of every day? No; but it does mean that we are to have His Word in our minds and in our hearts every-day-all-day. It is never to “depart from our mouths”. It is supposed to be a living part of our life, just like breathing or eating.
• Then we have to approach our study of the Word expectantly. In Hebrews 11:6, we read, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently search for Him.” Do you believe that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him? Then He will reward you if you seek Him. Look at another time this was promised by God: Jeremiah 29:13; “You will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.”
• Approach your study of the Word prayerfully. By prayerfully I don’t mean say a prayer, read the Word, and then pray when it’s over. What I mean is, be in conversation with God while you’re reading His Word and while you’re hearing His Word. His Word is “living and active”; He is speaking to you at the very moment that you are reading it. His Word is not just some stuff that a bunch of guys wrote down several thousand years ago. His Word is as fresh and alive as if the ink were still wet on the page. Talk with Him as you read His Word.
• The last way we need to approach our study of the Word of God is obediently. It does no good to read or hear what God has to say and then not be obedient to it. In James 1:22, we are told quite clearly, “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” To simply pay lip service to what the Word of God teaches is to be self-deceiving, thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, thinking that just because we know what the Bible says in our heads makes us solid in our walk with God. A little later James tells us, “Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself (2:17).” What he means is if we aren’t obedient to what we say we believe then we have nothing to back it up - it’s just a bunch of empty words in our lives and there is no life in it. A dead faith is a worthless faith. Remember that Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you (John 15:14).”

If we will all approach God’s Word with these attitudes, then the time we spend with it will change dramaticlly. Give it a try. See what God reveals to you. This is where it all starts.