Being People of Knowledge

I made a commitment around 15 years ago to read the Bible from lid to lid every year. I can tell you that without fail I see or understand something new every year that I didn't discover in the years prior. After reading it over and over, you begin to see the message within the message, so to speak.

It used to be that Christians could quote book, chapter and verse. No more. I'm afraid The Word is gathering dust on bookshelves, coffee tables, etc. I'm afraid that people view it as a dead letter, when in fact, it's far from it. In it are all the answers to life that no amount of self-help books in the local bookstore can ever cover.

Why study it? So that you won't be easily deceived by false teaching (Eph. 4: 14; Hos. 4: 6). Knowledge is one of the Christian graces (2 Pet. 1: 5-9). Most importantly, failure to spiritually mature will endanger your soul (2 Pet. 1: 9-10; 1 Tim. 2: 4; 4: 6; and 2 Tim. 3: 15).

Acquiring spiritual knowledge is no different from any other type of learning. You must crack a book (God's Book) in order to do it. If I could have learned by osmosis, I would have slept on my algebra book every night my freshman year of high school. But learning doesn't come that way. Instead, it requires the use of diligence and brain cells. It's been calculated that if you read three chapters every day during the week, and five apiece on Saturday and Sunday, that you can cover the entire Bible in a year. I've tried different reading schedules, but I have one that I've favored for many years that was published in the Gospel Advocate. It alternates between the Old and New Testaments, which makes it the more interesting method. I have also found that taking sermon notes helps me to maintain my focus on the message being delivered and that I retain the information more readily than if I were passively listening. I take notes to keep my mind from wandering. After awhile, you'll have learned many passages by rote and be able to follow the preacher's sermon track and anticipate what passage he'll be citing next.

The next big question would be: Must we follow doctrine? My knee-jerk answer would be, 'Well...DUH!' Not to be disrepectful, but doctrine is in the Bible and it obligates the Christian to take action (Matt. 7: 21-27; Luk. 6: 46). For doctrine to operate correctly, one must handle the Bible logically (Isa. 1: 18-20). New Christians are expected to continue to spiritually mature (Isa. 29: 9-10); and humble submission is necessary for doctrine to work (Isa. 57: 15; 66: 1-2).

Unless and until we re-establish ourselves as "people of The Book" we're in grave danger of becoming extinct as a body of believers.

Love Ya,
God Bless!