According to a recent survey most people in America still maintain a certain reverence for the Bible but fewer and fewer actually read it, much less study it. With the shift toward secularism in modern society fewer and fewer people even have a copy of the Bible in their home. So it would seem a relevant question: Should I study the Bible?
A study of the Bible brings certain benefits that cannot be acquired elsewhere. One of the most popular genres of books is “how to” books that instruct the reader in everything from how to repair leaky plumbing to how to make friends and influence people. With the proliferation of access to the internet instructional videos are available on almost any subject. All these avenues of obtaining information are valuable in their own way, but the Bible provides some things that are available only within its pages.
The Bible reveals historical information that is not usually available in the secular textbooks that are used in public schools and universities today. While a few of the main characters mentioned in the Bible, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, may receive a passing mention in some of those textbooks, it would be practically impossible to learn anything about them through any source other than the Bible.
While secular textbooks on biology and other scientifically oriented material delve into the chemical and cellular composition of humans, animals, and plant life and attribute the origins of those things to “natural” or “evolutionary” processes, it is only in the Bible that you find a supernatural account of the origins of the universe. It is important to understand the composition of the universe from a scientific standpoint, but it is even more important to know and understand the divine origin of our existence.
It is only in the Bible that we learn of and understand the immortal nature and aspect of humanity. While secular textbooks recognize and deal with the physical existence of humans and animals, it is only God’s word that educates us to the fact that human beings possess an immortal spirit that will live on after the physical body has decayed and returned to the dust from which it came. Long ago the wise man noted that at the end of this physical existence the physical body returns to the earth but the spirit returns to God who gave it (Eccl 12:6, 7). The apostle went into even greater detail noting that “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor 15:53). No secular textbook will provide that information.
But more importantly, the Bible is now the only means we have of “knowing” God. In times past God spoke more directly to humanity but now He speaks to His creation through His Son (Heb 1:1, 2), who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed (Titus 2:11-14). The apostles and other early followers of the Son, Jesus, the Christ, recorded for us the words that the Holy Spirit inspired them to record (2 Pet 1:20, 21) so that we may know our Creator. As was stated by the apostle, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor 2:10, 11). The Spirit of God has revealed to us the mind of God so that we may know, not only about God, but may also know God in the sense that we can have a close, personal relationship with Him.
Those are just some of the benefits of not just reading, but actually studying the word of God. I hope you will put forth the effort to know God, not just know about God.
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