(This article was published in the April 2008 issue of In His Presence a Christian community newspaper in Knoxville TN. My column "Wome's Study Hall will appear monthly)
“Bible Study” is just that – study! It is not casual, recreational reading. Bible Study is hard work, but we do not have to be Biblical scholars to find out the meaning of what God has to say to us. God wants every person to be able to understand what He is saying.
One simple method of personal Bible Study is the “Stop – Look – Listen” technique. Many of us grew up with our parents teaching us to “Stop-Look- Listen” as we cross a street. This little childhood phrase can guide our steps safely across the street, and in our personal Bible Study. It is easy to remember, and we can “take it” with us anywhere!
The Stop! Look! And Listen! Bible Study has been written to
• give you simple tools, that are easy to remember as you study the Scripture in some depth
• slow you down (STOP) in your reading.
• teach you how to observe and analyze (LOOK) what you are reading.
• have you think about how to apply (LISTEN) the Scriptural truth
you have learned.
• dramatically enrich your understanding of what God is saying to you.
As young children we learn to read one….word…..at….a….time. Every word seems full of wonder and interest. A sentence like, “I will huff and puff and blow your house down,” can bring joyful delight, laughter, and animated discussion for a young reader.
We tend to lose the joy of looking at each word as the years pass and we strive to be the fastest reader, or just to finish as quickly as we can, to get on to our busy lives. Unfortunately for most of us, the habit of speed reading transfers into our Bible Study.
While we might get through the passage quickly, speed replaces comprehension, and we may miss out on Divine truth and God’s message to us. We don’t slow down long enough to be able to see what we do not really understand. If this sounds like your reading habits, the Stop! Look! Listen! Bible Study technique is just for you.
Let’s begin to look at the steps of “Stop! Look! Listen! This technique can be used to study a few verses of Scripture, a chapter, or an entire book.
STOP!
Stop! First, always stop and pray before you begin. Ask God to give you the time and attention span to study His message to you. Read the Scripture several times during this study. Reading it just once or twice is not enough!
Slow down and look every word. What do you already recognize and understand ? What don’t you understand? Stop! Begin to gather information and look in detail at Scripture. Make a written list of what you do not know, or what looks interesting to you for further study.
For an example: Roman 12: 1-2 (NKJ) is a very familiar section of Scripture, but there are several words that you may not fully understand:
(1)I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2)And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Stop! Do you know what “beseech,” “ holy,” “conform,” “transform,” really mean as applied to these verses? Make a list of any words that need a closer look.
LOOK!
Look! This is the research/study section. Begin by reading the portion of Scripture again. You will spend most of your study time in this phase. “Look” means to search, examine, consider. Pay attention to what is happening.
Research the word list that you wrote in the Stop! section. Words that you do not understand should take your directly to a Bible Dictionary or other resource for clarification.
Part of carefully crossing a street is to “Look Left and Look Right.” This applies to our Bible Study also. See what is on each side of the verses that you are studying. This gives you a more complete picture of what is happening. “Look Left” - what came before? “Look Right” - what comes after your primary verses? How do these impact the story and your understanding?
LISTEN!
Listen! This is the goal of any Bible Study. Listen means not only to hear, but to take heed, take notice, pay attention to, to mind, and to follow. Listen to what God is saying to you through the written Word and His Holy Spirit. How can you, how should you, apply what you have learned to your life today?
Listen! We study to see what God has to teach us. We study to change our life to be more of what God wants us to be. Scripture will speak to you personally.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN – three other points:
• Remember: Bible Study is not for “sissies.” Bible Study is just that - “study.”
• Use a translation that is a word-for-word translation from the original language. A paraphrase translation has a definite place in your personal library, but is not the best to be used for ‘study.’ Choose from the KJ, NKJ, NAS or NIV. Ask your Pastor, or someone else that you know is involved with serious study of Scripture, if you have any questions.
• K.I.S.S. Keep it Sacred Scripture. Scripture is inspired and without error. Nothing is added. Nothing is missing. As you listen to God, and apply the Word to your life, remember that footnotes and study notes were written by man and are not the words of God. They are guidelines, but not necessarily truth. Keep it Sacred Scripture; if you cannot find it in the 66 books of Scripture then it is not Truth.
In the months to come, Women’s Study Hall will present a series of articles on the lives of women of the Scripture. As you read the articles you now have some tools to spend your own time in serious investigation of Scripture.
