Why do we study God's word?
Hebrews 4:12-16, and Phillipians 1:3-11. To know God. To see ourselves truthfully. That we may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, to be filled with the fruit of righteousness. To have more abounding love, real knowledge and all discernment. We need to pray for a hunger to read and study His word daily, and we need to make that time to sit down and study. He loves it when we come to Him to know Him, just as we love when someone takes time to stop and get to know us. We ought to honor Him with our time.
Why can't we rely on someone else to study for us?
So we are informed during conversation. It is of no use if we are in regular conversation with someone, and all you can answer is "I don't know" to all of their questions.
"But I don't want to know more than my husband/father." - God's word administers grace and wisdom to us each day as we face various trials and temptations (including laziness in the name of letting someone else be "smarter.") God provides our leaders for us to support. How differently Abigail's story in 1 Samuel 25 would have turned out if she was not intelligent (vs.3). She prevented needless bloodshed and enmity, and was not found cowering in the kitchen, wringing her hands over what to do. In comparison, we don't even know the name of Lot's wife, who looked back at a city of destruction, wanting to return instead of trusting in God. We need to be aware if we are being led astray. It will do no good to tell the Lord, "But I didn't know!"
How do we let God's word inform the practical working out in our lives?
Read 1 Cor. 13:4-13. Love is kind. OR in a very practical rendition personalized to me - love is changing diapers. Love is getting up in the middle of the night to find Advil, or Tylenol, or comfort a crying baby. Love is having supper on time. Love is keeping up on the laundry. Love is responding gently instead of with a long sigh or an angry glance, even though I am exhausted. Personalize it. What do you need to work on? Where does love need to be applied?
God's word informs our lives and gives us our guidelines - gives us boundaries and freedoms, shows us how to live and why we are different.
Being familiar with the 10 Commandments, God's boundaries for us, gives us freedom. Imagine a great city, surrounded by a strong wall (Hadrian's Wall, for example. Pick a big wall.), always building and renewing for the glory of God. You are free to do as you wish, in the confines of the walls: safe. (There are armies that go out on excursions and conquer more of the wilds each day, but that's a different part of the story.) Now, imagine those same people in a wild, dark and untamed forest. They are trying to build, but people are always building walls and having them torn down as they continuously "open their minds" to modern ideas. Nothing lasting is ever accomplished because they will always be under attack. So how do we live? Why are we different? We lay our lives down so that we may truly live, living sacrificially for our neighbor. Who is our closest neighbor? Sister, brother, father, mother, spouse, child. If we cannot die for these, our closest, what makes us so eager and sure we can die for the "Poor Starving Children of Africa?"* In each situation we are presented with, we have the choice of responding in truth or in lies and in grace, or selfishness.
If we don't know God's word, we can easily by misled.
By becoming convinced (particularly with women) of our way of salvation through a certain way of education, (public, private, homeschool, classical, etc.) of nutrition (whole foods, enriched foods, low fat, no fat, low carbs, etc.), hygeine (sanitized, anti-bacterial, exposure, etc.), instead of recognizing God has sent our salvation, and it is Jesus Christ. Live in grace with one another.
How do we know whether or not Christians that we are reading or listening to are telling the truth unless we know God's word? We can get lost trying to "find ourselves," discovering our "true calling." We are sinful, we need to find Jesus, know Him. Trust He has put you where you need to be, and let tomorrow take care of itself. Are you doing today what God has called you to? What has He called you to? Washing dishes? Scrubbing toilets? Wiping up snot? Do it gladly, with a cheerful heart. This is what He has called you to today! God has given us struggles to embrace, to draw us closer to Himself, away from our sinful selves.
The importance of studying Scripture is so that we may know God, that we may live in love and grace with one another, forving as we have been forgiven. That we may be ever moving forward in our walk with Him, furthering His Kingdom, and bringing the whole earth into submission to Christ!
*While I do mock the title, PSCA, I do not in anyway wish to imply I have any malice towards those less fortunate, at home or abroad.
