3 Excuses Not to do Bible Study – Excuse 3

There are a myriad of excuses people use to not study the Bible. A recent statistic I read said that 92% of Americans own a Bible but fewer than 50% of Americans can even name the first book in it. Sadly most of the Bibles in America are nothing more than dust collectors.

In today’s post, we are looking at excuse number three in our miniseries looking at the top three excuses people use not to study the Bible.

Excuse #1: Time (“I’m too busy”)

Excuse #2: Technique (“I don’t know Greek, grammar, and never got any good grades in stuff”)

Excuse #3: Technique (“I don’t know how”)

Okay, I admit, this may be a legitimate excuse on the surface. If you don’t know HOW to do Bible Study, how can one expect you to do it?

In reality, even this excuse is a bit bogus. We have been talking about technique – some practical ways to study the Bible (and more is to come):

• 6 Helpful Hints for Saturation Bible Study
• 3 Questions to Ask During Bible Study
• Using the 3 Questions (Practical Example)
• How Pixar’s movie Cars Helps Your Bible Study
• 5 Types of Bible Studies
• Tips for Studying the Bible

But Saturation Bible Study is not so much focused on technique as it based on relationship with and being indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus – which is the purpose of Bible Study.

Shakespeare

Even if you have no idea what to do in Bible study, do you recognize the fact that studying Scripture is a lot different than studying Shakespeare?

I remember in high school having to study Shakespeare, and hating it (I apologize if you are a Shakespeare fanatic). Much of what he wrote was difficult for me to understand. I mean, come on, who can understand his sonnets?

I think the big beef of my frustration is the fact that Shakespeare is dead. His death is not what bothers me, it is the fact we are trying to interpret what he said. We might be right or perhaps close to the correct understanding, but Shakespeare is dead, we can’t ask him.

Scripture is all together different. The Author Himself is not dead! In fact, He lives inside you! Do you see how this could radically change your view of studying the Word?

I don’t come to Scripture to hopefully come up with a good interpretation, throwing out my best guess. I can go to the Author and ask Him what it means.

Guided by the Spirit

As we mentioned in Excuse 2 (Training), one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all Truth (John 16.5-15). We don’t have to manufacture it or make a “best guess” on what it means, we can go directly to the Source. In fact, if we approached Bible Study with this mindset, we can have confidence and boldness that He will reveal truth and give wisdom and understanding to us.

Now granted, this is not a microwave process. We don’t flip open the Bible, point a finger on a passage and suddenly have an instant download of understanding. There is a journey of wrestling with the text, praying over it, thinking through it, and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal its meaning.

But studying Scripture is nothing like studying Shakespeare (thank goodness!). Yes it is possible to study and obtain surface truths from the Word on your own, but to obtain depth of insight, you must allow the Holy Spirit to take you deeper.

So it doesn’t matter if you don’t know HOW to study the Bible, the Holy Spirit will still guide you into all Truth if you will allow Him to. While knowing some practical “how to’s” might be helpful, not having them is no excuse not to study – because the focus again is on the relationship and intimacy with Jesus.

What are you doing still reading this post? Perusing deeperChristian isn’t the 4th excuse to not study the Word of God (though I am honored you read our ramblings). Now go spend some time with Jesus! :)

excuse 1 | excuse 2 | excuse 3