Why study the Bible?

If you believe that there is a God, and that He has taken the trouble to communicate His will to us through a collection of books through the ages, then it is an inescapable conclusion that finding out what He has said, and how His words affect us must be a high priority in our lives.

Studying the Bible means more than reading books about it or listening to people explaining their thoughts about it. Indeed, in Acts ch.17 v.11, the people of Berea were specifically commended by Luke because they did not merely take Paul and his companions' words at face value, but conducted their own studies to determine whether they spoke the truth, or were making things up to suit their own agendas.

This is logical. After all, if you believe that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writers of the Bible is at work today, then He can speak to you, and give you insight into the application and meaning of those same words as you study them today.

An exciting idea, if you pause to consider its full impact. That the creator of the entire universe cares enough about you as an individual, that He will choose to demonstrate the reality of His presence by communicating with you as you fill your mind with words he inspired two thousand years ago - that this transcends barriers of language, of the limitations of our intellect and imagination, of our own imperfection.

He chooses to meet us as we are in order to shape us into the people He has clled us to be, and the tool He chooses to do this through is His powerful Word.