Knowing Scripture

I recently finished a book called, Knowing Scripture, by R.C. Sproul. I was given this book about 2 years ago and tried to read it when it was first given to me, but I quickly put it down, because I didn't understand it. Well, to reword that, I didn't put my mind into comprehending it. Through all my reading and studying in the past 2 years, I came to a place where I wanted to try the book again to see if it made sense. Well.....guess what? It did make a lot of sense and it only took me about 3 days to finish it.

Now, I don't know much about the author, other than he is writer of many books, a pastor, and a teacher....but as far as his personal life, I know nothing. However, this book was a real eye opener as far as the Scriptures are concerned. He gave tips and pointers on how to read and dig deeper into the Bible to find true meaning in the passages.

Before any Bible reading, it is important to pray and first ask forgiveness for any unconfessed sin in our life, then ask the Holy Spirit to open your mind and heart to receive the Word. This will make the reading time so much more beneficial to your life.

Some things stuck out at me as I read......
- There are myths as to why we don't read the Bible
- Sometimes we rely on "feelings" over what the Bible tells us to be true
- Greek and Hebrew are important in understanding the meaning of the passage
- A study Bible is good to have
- Duty becomes delight

Myths - The biggest myth why we don't read the Bible is because we can't understand it. Well, I know for a fact that if you are in high school, or already graduated high school, the Bible can be understood for you. Actually, according to the author, the newspaper is more difficult to read than the Bible is.
Another myth is that the Bible is boring. Actually, I thought this too at one point, but not anymore. It's full of history and adventure. Anything but boring.

Relying on feelings in any aspect of our life is not in our best interest. Feelings often times lead us astray from the truth of the matter. The same is the Bible. If we are only looking to what we "feel" in our heart and not leaning on His Word, problems will occur. We will be looking for something we may never experience and miss out on the truth that the Word holds.

I don't know much about Greek or Hebrew other than that was the original language of the Bible and many words in those languages cannot be translated. We should appreciate those who study these languages to better understand the Scriptures. A lot of books I've been reading lately have Greek translated in them to explain the passage better. One in particular is God is Able, by Priscilla Shirer. She translates Greek in the book to help the reader better understand Ephesians 3:20. In the big picture, those that study these languages are better equipped to teach.....at least in my opinion.

A study Bible is very good to have, but to keep one thing in mind. The notes and descriptions listed by the verses, are for us to understand the passage better. However, the notes were subjective to the one who wrote them. For instance, I have an NIV study Bible and a John MacArthur study Bible. Both have very good notes, but from different viewpoints. The John MacArthur one has his thoughts on the text.  This is something I found out recently in a class. It makes sense why each study Bible has similar, yet different notes. This doesn't change the words of the actual Bible, just the notes.

We all, as Christians, have a duty to read the Bible and apply it to our life. We all have reasons why we don't want to read it or study it, myself included at times. All I can envision is, at my judgement day, when my God asks why I didn't know His Word the way He intended, what will I say for myself? What reason could I give a holy God for NOT knowing His Word better? (I admit this scares me a little).
Our duty is to read it, study it, live it.......and through this duty, we get delight. We end up delighting in The Word and in our God in a way we would never know if we weren't diligent in our time with Him through the Bible. This is amazing to me. That the more we spend with Him, the more we WANT to spend with Him!!

Summing up....the best line in the whole book got me really thinking....the author writes,
"The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in".
We can say we believe in God all we want, but if we question His word, do we really believe in Him? Do we really trust Him if we question the very book He so intricately wove together....for us? Do we really have faith if we never open His word, yet say we live by it?
These are questions I asked myself. I have a long way to go. I have work to do for the kingdom. I am thankful I have a God who is patient with me in my study....and am thankful for those who know more than me and can help me learn.  :)