Study Tips From a High School Dropout

As soon as I turned 16, I went to my high school office to meet with a VP. I told him I was leaving school, which lead to a loud lecture and him finally saying, "If you leave you are never welcome back here!"

I laughed and walked out.

To be fair to the school, I was not a good student; not even close. I had failed every grade-10 class, even PE. That tends to happen when you miss over 200 classes in one year. And now that football season was over, I had no reason to stay. At least that was my thinking at the time.

So you may be asking why I am talking about study habits, as admittedly I may not be the best example. But eventually I did go back to high school, and after squeezing 4 years into 6, believe it or not, I spent the next 7 years in college and graduate school.

Over the past few weeks we have been considering the value of seeking quiet and solitude. Then expanding solitude to include meditation. I have tried to make a case for setting aside time for quiet contemplation, and meditation on the Bible, even though our lives are busy and full of distractions.

Bible Reading vs Bible Study

Growing up in the church, I have heard many descriptions of spiritual disciplines related to the Bible. Things like quiet time, devotions or devotional reading are often championed as things we should do on a daily basis; or at least as regularly as we can; and now there are apps with hundreds of reading plans to guide you. They can topical or seasonal or focus a specific theme, a book of the Bible or a problem we may need encouragement with. Some people even read the Bible in a year.

I'm all for reading the Bible, but I do have some concerns with typical approaches. Reading through the Bible in a year requires reading 3-4 chapters every day of the year, which can lead to discouragement when you get behind, leading to quitting; and while there is retention through reading, I believe it's limited.

Another concern I have is that reading the Bible in the context of morning quiet time, can be reduced to a quick prayer, followed by a casual reading of a passage, then moving on with our day; with the danger of not really seeing, understanding or growing from what you read.

A Case for Studying the Bible

• We're commanded to study

"Do your best (study in the KJV) to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

• It helps us grow and become who God wants us to become.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

To put is simply, studying the Bible helps us discern truth from error, what we ought to do and what we should avoid, and equips us to do the things God has created us to do.

There are many other benefits to studying the Bible but I would argue these alone are enough to convince me of it's importance.

Common Arguments Against Studying the Bible

I don't have time. We have time for what we value and prioritize and I encourage you to make Bible study a priority for you. I wonder if we check how much time we spend on our phones, if we couldn't find spare some time somewhere.

The Bible is too difficult to understand. I agree that the Bible can be challenging; some sections more than others, but I get it. But hey, we all know things now that we didn't before, right? So learning something new is possible, even if it's challenging.

Back to School

The classroom provides a metaphor for how we can learn how to study the Bible more effectively.

Teacher

I can think of a few teachers who made a real difference in my life. But when it comes to the Christian life, you have a teacher, the Holy Spirit. When it comes to studying the Bible, we can pray for guidance and clarity.

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth..." John 16:13

Hopefully you're part of a church where the Bible is faithfully taught and preached, as this preaching can support our personal study of God's Word. Church history is filled with with individuals who have committed themselves to the study of God's Word and they can be valuable resources for us as well.

Classmates

In school I never liked group projects. Who am I kidding? I didn't like projects period (until after high school) but we can study the Bible with other individuals who want to learn as well.

Textbooks

You have the main textbook in the Bible itself and I think some modern translations such as the ESV, NIV and NLT are a good place to start.

The Bible is unique and stands alone in it's importance. It is a collection of 66 books written over 1400 years, with 40 authors. It is the word of God, "alive and active...sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit...it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart..." Hebrews 4: 12.

No other book compares to it.

Study-bibles provide notes, introductions to books and explanations of terms, maps and concordances etc. They can be very helpful as well.

I am a big fan of actually opening a physical Bible vs an app. Why?

1. It gets you off your phone (less distractions)
2. You will retain more.
3. The tactile experience is superior. You can highlight, underline words or phrases and turn pages.

Library

I never read a book until I went to college, so libraries were not important to me until then. But we have access to resources to help us gain greater understanding of the Bible.

There are countless commentaries, dictionaries and word studies that can provide insight as we study the Bible. I don't think we should start with these, and they are not meant to help us to avoid doing the work, but they can be great helps.

The Bible, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a faith community committed to the Bible, and a library of resources means we really don't have an excuse not to study.

In high school my mom mentioned that she never saw me do homework. That's because I never did...to my shame.

But there is no excuse today for not doing my homework. I may not have been a good student in high school, but being a student as I later learned never stops.

I started reading Ephesians this week.

• It's the only letter written by the apostle Paul to a specific church (verses a collection of churches)
• Paul likely wrote it from Rome. (mentioned in Acts 28)
• Written around AD 61 while Paul was in house arrest, waiting for his day in court before Caesar.
• The letter addresses doctrine and teaching, then how to put that teaching into practice
• A major theme is how Christians have new life in Jesus Christ and should live their new life through the Holy Spirit.

How cool is that? What other book in the world compares to that? And that's before even getting into the actual words of the letter.

I'm telling you the Bible is incredible.

So let me ask you?

How do you feel about the Bible?

How much time do you spend studying the Bible?

What's holding you back?

How can you make it a priority?

Where will you start today?

Until next time - Dan