3 Ways to Get into God’s Word
By Jeff Cranston
Studies indicate that there is a slow but steady decline in readership and reverence for the Bible, and many Americans lack basic Bible knowledge, for example:
Four in 10 American adults can’t name the first book of the Bible.
More than half can’t name the Gospels—the first four books of the New Testament.
Nearly 80 percent think the phrase, “God helps those who help themselves,” is an actual Bible verse.
Yet, the most basic essential for any spiritually healthy Christian or church is a commitment to hearing, learning, and applying God’s Word.
Read Acts 17:1-9. Paul preached in the synagogue in Thessalonica for at least three weeks. His ministry was strong, and he established a Jewish-Gentile church, although it was more heavily Gentile. That stirred the unbelieving Jewish leaders with indignation and fury, and they formed a mob and made an assault upon the home where Paul, Silas and Timothy were staying. So Paul and the others were smuggled out by night to avoid another uproar. To the southwest, about 60 miles away, lay the town of Berea. Paul would go there, and a new adventure awaited him.
Read Acts 17:10-15. In Berea, the people received the Word of God with eagerness. They had an anticipation, an expectancy, that God might be speaking specifically to them. And this is what set them apart. This eagerness to examine the Scriptures by the Bereans is an example that we should follow. Here are three ways you can be like the Bereans and get into God’s Word:
1. Listen to sermons and Bible teaching with an open Bible.
There is no authority in the church and in the pulpit except insofar as it is derived from the Word of God. So, test everything. Bring your Bible to church with you. Open it up. Follow along. Take notes. See for yourself whether everything being taught accords with Scripture.
2. Approach the Bible with eager expectation.
The Bereans received the Word with eagerness. That was their posture to the Word—readiness and expectation. There is no movement of the Spirit in the history of revival, and no genuine movement of the Spirit in the human heart, that does not result in a new hunger for God’s Word. When God grabs a hold of someone’s life, you can see their newfound eagerness for the Word.
3. Be prepared to study the Word deeply.
The Bereans examined the Scriptures daily. The word “examined” refers to an in-depth, detailed, intelligent examination of the Scriptures. There is a unique confidence that is acquired when you see something in the Scriptures for yourself. Not simply that you’ve heard this or somebody told you that, but you’ve seen it for yourself. You saw the connection in the Word. You looked up the cross-references. You thought it through. You prayed about it. You took notes. There is a new confidence that comes because you are not just accepting things secondhand, but you see it right in front of you in the pages of Scripture.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor at LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, S.C.