What Do I Do With the Bible? Six Steps

I haven’t blogged much this spring because I’ve focused on completing my book that is to be published this year. I’ve recently submitted my second, entire draft. My publisher and I will be discussing it in a week. Thank you to all of you who are praying for this book and the ministry it can have to help many people. My book, A Traveler’s Guide through Suffering and Joy, develops a theology, an organized way of viewing, interpreting, and coming to terms with suffering and joy.

You can take any topic and develop a theology using the topic as the focal point. Theology is the study of God in relation to any topic. Nothing exists outside of a theological perspective. We need to ask:

“How biblically tethered is any given theology?” “How biblically tethered am I?”

First, we need to know what to do with the Bible.  Some Christians feel ambivalent about God’s Word. Many Christians and nonChristians hold prejudices against it or assume untruths about it. Why? It is a book that is talked about but not read much.

You can get away with that with The Republic, by Plato: just read some online summaries.  This approach will not work with the Word of God. So, I was thinking about a five or six step approach to God’s Word that is so straight forward. I learned several versions of this from Dr. Howard Hendricks, but I’ll give you my simple starter version.

Use your right hand for counting, and start with your thumb and go to each finger and finally the palm of your hand. What do I do with the Bible?

1. Hear it.
2. Read it.
3. Study it.
4. Meditate on it.
5. Memorize it.
6. Apply it.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

As long as you live, you eat and drink, or you die. As long as we live spiritually (forever), we eat and drink the Word of God. This is how we live.  But what does this living look like?

It looks like a growing animal, plant, or tree. The food is always informing the life in the cells.

After a 40 day fast in the wilderness, Jesus compares every word of God to bread (Matthew 4:4).

Peter compares Scripture to milk: “Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (I Peter 2:2).

Well, there are more than six apples here. Aren’t they beautiful? We need some color on this page. Thank God for color, texture, flavor, and all His delightful gifts. Thank God for fruitful growth in our lives.

I could list so many more passages. I just want to make the point that our spiritual diet is to be the Word of God. The more we drink and eat it, the more we crave it. We are called to crave it, and we only will develop this longing or craving by actually consuming Scripture.

Your hand is your handy reminder. What shall I do with the Word?

1. Hear it. “Faith comes by hearing…the Word…” (Romans 10:17). A weak faith is our dash board light signaling to us that we need more spiritual food.
2. Read it. Centuries ago when most people could not read and when books were scarce and expensive, people were dependent upon others reading it or telling it to them. God has graced us with the ability to read and with an abundance of Bibles. Read it.
3. Study it. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth“ (II Timothy 2:15, NKJV). The KJV says, “Study to show thyself approved….” I grew up learning the Bible through the KJV.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (NASB). This is the primary translation that I use for study.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth“ (ESV). This version has become a first choice for many who want a more literal, but also a fluid (easy to read) English translation. (NASB can be more stilted in places.)

What is rightly or accurately handling or dividing the word of truth? We have a two word combination: an adverb (rightly or accurately) modifying a verb (dividing or handling). In Greek this combination is one word. English requires two words, separating the adverb from the verb. The Greek, “orthotomeo” (Strongs # 3718) is based upon two verbs: “orthos,” to stand straight up and “temno,” to cut or divide. II Timothy 2:15 is the only place in the NT where “temno” is used. How we study the Word forms how we handle the Word. (We need a separate post on this.)

4. Meditate on it. “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season…” Psalms 1: 1-3a.

5. Memorize it: “Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against Thee” (Pslam 119:11).

6. Apply it. “All Scripture is inspired by God [God-breathed] and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work”  (II Timothy 3:16-17).  A dear pastor friend who recently died used to explain this passage something like this: Scripture guides you on God’s good path. The teaching shows you the path to follow. The rebuke tells you when you are off the path. The corrections shows you how to get back onto the path, and the training in righteousness equips you to stay on this good path.

Counting from your thumb, through your fingers, to your palm, you now have the six steps in grasping the Word so that you may throw it like a baseball to the next generation.

The entire process is recursive. We circle through it daily. By it we grow. By it we build a witness. By this process, we create a legacy to pass on to our children, grandchildren, and others.

There is so much more to say, but I’m tired, and you have enough here to think about.

Take it to another level by reading and studying Living by the Book, by Howard Hendricks and his son, William. For years my husband, Paul, and I have used and shared this book which teaches the inductive method of Bible study.  However,  I just put together the connection between the title, Living by the Book, and Matthew 4:4. Wow. Of course.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Matthew 4:4