Bible Study: 14 Ways to Whet Your Appetite
“Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deut. 8:3
Most of us know we can’t live by bread alone; some of us are even counseled by our doctors not to eat bread at all. But do we know that we can’t live by work alone or family alone or approval alone or achievement alone or whatever it is that we try to fill our hearts up with alone? Do we know that we are desperate—desperate for every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord?
I have to admit, a lot of the time I act as if I’m just fine without the words that come from the mouth of the Lord. I mean, I may read my Bible every morning, but I don’t read it as if my life depended on it. And that’s what Moses is saying here. God actually let the Israelites go hungry in the wilderness then fed them with manna.
You may know what happened. At first they thought this lovely frosted flaky looking stuff was delicious. But they soon tired of it and complained to Moses that they wanted to get back to their old familiar lives (where they were slaves in Egypt!). (Note: something else I love about the Bible—it is hilarious in places! (Until you realize that you act just as foolishly as the Israelites sometimes)).
In today’s enCourage blog, I asked, “Do we really need to read the whole Bible?” Today, I’m going to suggest fourteen ways to read the Bible. These are not so much strategies as they are attitudes and approaches. Next week we’ll talk strategy.
1. Read it as if your life depended on it.
Because it does. At least, that’s what Jesus told Satan (Matthew 4: 4). Everything we need for life and breath and even death is right here in this beloved book.
3. Read it as if it is a love letter written to you by God…
…the most holy, most perfect, most just, most loving, most merciful Being—God, your Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer (1 John 4:7-12). Because it is.
2. Read it as if you don’t know everything.
As if you don’t know everything about the Bible and as if you don’t know everything, period. In other words, read with humility (James 4:6).
4. Read it to develop a relationship with the Author…
that same God who is holy, perfect, just, loving, and merciful. (The Psalms, all of them). As you read, ask “Who is this God? What is he like?”
5. Read it as if all of it points to Jesus God’s Son, your Savior (Luke 24:27).
Because it does. Read it to learn how Jesus lived, and ask him to help you live that way too.
7. Read it as if you are going to—hard word alert—submit to it…
surrender to it, obey it, live it out (Psalm 119:4, 5, 7, 11, 33-34, etc.). (And as if you actually can, because of the power of the Holy Spirit (see number six above)).
6. Read it to learn more about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit…
who not only raises the dead (Titus 3:4-7), but who also mysteriously and remarkably transforms (sanctifies) all who have trusted in Christ as Savior (Romans 15:15).
8. Read it as if it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Aramaic.
Because it was. This means that you will sometimes need help understanding the words, the concepts, and the culture. Seek out good translations, commentaries and teachers to help you.
9. Read it to find out how you are relevant to it.
We often ask, “How is the Bible relevant to me?” But the whole point is, that we don’t fold the Bible into our story; it folds us into its story (Psalm 119:154, 156, and 159).
11. Read it to learn how to pray.
In fact, do this, too: pray to learn how to read it (Matthew 6:7-13).
10. Sometime, in some seasons of your life, read all of it…
because you really need to know the whole story to understand its individual parts.
12. Read it to make sense of suffering—
yours, the world’s, Christ’s (2 Cor. 4: 16-18).
13. Read it as if it will bring you great joy, delight, and hope…
yes, even, or especially, when you are suffering. (Psalm 119:14).
14. Read it as if it was the best news you’ve ever heard!
The Bible tells the whole and true story of the God who created the cosmos…
how his created people destroyed that cosmos by rebelling against him; how God restored, redeemed and reconciled his people and his creation by sending his very own sinless Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for their sins; and how, one day, this same Jesus, who was resurrected from the dead, will return to establish his heavenly kingdom here on earth, reuniting forever the holy Creator God with his beloved creation, and there will be glory, glory, glory and lots of hallelujahs!