Effective Bible Study

The story is told of a man who had an unusual mode of Bible study. He would quickly flip through the pages of the Bible with his eyes closed, would bring his finger down on a verse, open his eyes, and that verse was supposedly his God-given inspiration and exhortation for that day.

One morning, as he brought his finger down on a verse referring to Judas, it said, "he departed and went and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:5 KJV). He didn't particularly like that verse, so he thought that God would add further instructions if he tried again.

The next time, his finger pointed to the latter part of the verse that says, "Go and do thou likewise" (Luke 10:37 KJV). Being very perplexed on what to do next, he tried again. As he placed his finger on the next scripture, it said, "That thou doest, do quickly" (John 13:27 KJV).

He then had his God-give exhortation for that day — just as Judas went out and hanged himself, so "you go and do likewise, and do it quickly!"

The above illustration of haphazard Bible study, tells us that we can make the Bible say just about anything we want it to say.

Dear reader, the idea of being careful about "how" we study God's word, is very important in effective Bible study. Paul described this process as "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). The phrase translated "rightly dividing" (see Strong's 3718), gives us the idea of a skilled craftsman cutting something straight.

In other words, we are not to cut corners when it come to the study of God's word.

In the context of Bible study, it means taking the time for diligent, careful, and systematic study. It means teaching God's truth directly and correctly. Accurately discerning and teaching God's truth to others, must be the priority of every conscientious follower of Christ (1 Peter 3:15 KJV; cf. Colossians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:1-2,24-26 KJV).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets