I can read your mind already. You are "religious" and believe there is a heaven, but you have never actually read the bible. It is a book on your shelf, pulled out to walk in to church twice a year: You are America. I am too. It was embarrassingly far into my walk with the Lord when I first started going to bible study. Now, this can mean a variety of things including attendance only once a week, to in-depth study to the extent of a college class with daily homework. Admittedly, you get out of a study what you put into it and I did my fare of "foo foo" studies that required very little of me. I have come a long way and through the process have learned so much about why I need a bible study and what amazing gifts it offers.
There is an association, made up of Christians from many different denominations, whose purpose is to bring more people to Christ: the Gideons. You may have heard of them since, if you have ever been in a hotel, chances are there is a bible in your side-table. It is estimated that each bible lasts about 6 years and is read 2300 times. 25% of travelers open and read their bible. I am going to guess that this is a better average than the typical American home which has over 2 bibles on average. If you are not a Christian, maybe you sometimes wonder how friends who call Jesus their Lord never pick up the book that their religion is based upon. There is no good answer. The bible is the basis of everything I believe and if I don't read it, how can I tell others about it? How can I know what I believe and why?
You see, on my own, I am not as diligent as I should be about reading the bible. Frankly, I stink at memorizing scripture and I use that as an excuse…A LOT. What I have learned is that I cannot fall back on that anymore, as I am no longer a "new" Christian. Instead of finding an excuse to leave the bible on the shelf, I must actively seek a study in my community whether it is at my home church or not. Just as Jesus was not a Democrat or Republican, he is not remotely interested in whether you are a Baptist or an Evangelical Christian. He just wants you to KNOW him and have a relationship, not a religion.
If you have never tried one, it can feel daunting. You may be tempted to say, "No thanks" when you hear about the time commitment or reason that you "don't really need it". Trust me when I tell you, something happens when you commit a small amount of time to foraging through the chapters of the bible. God doesn't care if you don't know where the Book of Philemon is. He doesn't care if you have the little helper indexes or if you feel like you "won't know enough". As NIKE says, "Just DO IT" and you will be amazed at what you DON'T know. Years ago I took my first in depth bible study on the Old Testament. It was tough and I felt so dumb about how little I knew. There is so much more to the bible than the Gospels. Dive in under the guidance of a good leader and the bible that has sat on your shelf for years will come alive. I am a big believer in writing in my bible in the margins, underlining, making notations of dates, etc…The sign of a good Christian is, many times, a dinged up bible that looks like it needs a new home at Goodwill but the value that it hold to the person who owns it is priceless. My Mom has a well used bible. My sister's is tear stained and still going strong. Mine is now stuffed with special photos, funeral cards, and even Pop Rocks, given to me by my friend Joanna. Every time I see those, I pray for her and her family who suffered a GREAT loss when their son died at 15 from a very rare form of cancer.
Set a small goal…open it…then read it…even for a few minutes every day. Before you know it, you will want to know more and more and build on your faith. Maybe your "No thanks" will become a "YES please"!
Carry On,
CoffeeTalkMom
P.S. If you are an IPAD person, I highly recommend the "Glo Bible" application. (www.globible.com) This application is full of videos, is easy to read, you can take notes, and it provides AWESOME information if you just can't "imagine what it was like to walk in Jesus' shoes". Dave was a huge supporter when they were just a "start- up" and now they have reached a million people with their app.
Bible study has been one of the best things to help me with my grief. It comes with strong, supporting, thoughtful friends and uplifts you through faith and the joy of learning somerthing new. Keeping your mind and spirit busy during hard times is so crucial, along with the blessing of good friends, like you Amy!
Posted by: Joanna blakeman | 11/02/2012 at 12:24 PM