Study to show yourself approved unto God
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”(2 Tim. 2:25 KJV)
Many years ago while visiting a Christian friend, I asked if he read and studied the Bible. He said he had read the Bible through as a young man and didn’t see any value in reading it again, or certainly, not study it. That was sad to hear! Over the years I watched him grow older. He got married and divorced. He grew apart from his children and grandchildren. He gradually developed mental and physical decline. And he passed away alone in a rest home. I believe his life would have been very different had he understood how important it is to read and study the Bible, and he had done so. The following are a few reasons it is important.
Why the Bible is so important
God Commands it!
“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).
It is Divinely Inspired
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
It Brings Blessing
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
It brings reward
“…The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Psalm 19: 9b-11).
It is food for the Soul
“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3).
It is a mirror
“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1: 23-24).
It is a discerner of the thoughts and attitude of the heart
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
It is a life-giving seed
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).
It is water, the power to purify
“…to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…” (Ephesians 5:26).
It is a lamp that illuminates and guides us
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119: 105).
It is a consuming fire
‘They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).
“I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes” (Jeremiah 5:14).
It is a hammer to break the hardened heart
”’Is not my word like fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’ ” Jeremiah 23:39
It is a sword; a weapon against the devil
“Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)
Is the source of faith
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).
It is life-giving
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ ” (John 6:68).
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ “(Matthew 4:4).
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
“I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death” (John 8:51).
Rejecting God’s Word leads to death
“But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:16).