Study!

A word that can bring fear into students everywhere at any level – STUDY!  Teachers and professors do their best to convey subject matter during classroom time, but work outside the classroom is needed to be successful.  But try as they may, the professor just can’t get some students to understand it’s important to not only study classroom notes, but to also read the book!

Don’t think for a moment text books and instructional materials aren’t read.  Students who are driven to achieve graduation honors will digest every page in the text.  Professors will even pull one or two questions out of the text to place on test to reward those students who heed the warning to study.  And of course, let’s not forget those professors who write their own textbook. They want a return on their investment of time and research to compile a tool for learning; to teach as much as they can to the students in their class.

I heard about a high school history teacher admit to his students "eighty percent of everything I told you in class is true, and the other twenty percent is made up!"  The reason he admitted to this is history is elusive and no one has all the facts. Therefore, subjectivity comes into play in an attempt to fill in the gaps. History is like a paved road which has some of the pavement missing.  We can see the trail, but some of the surface is gone forever from point A to point B.

Can the same be said about the Holy Bible?  Some say it has been embellished in places and true in others.  But how can we know if this is correct or not? To determine what the Bible is, we have to say what the Bible is not.

First, the Bible is very philosophical, but it is not a philosophy book.  The Bible contains proven historical facts and events, but it is not a history book.  It contains laws under which the nation of Israel was to live, but it is not a law book.  It contains scientific facts as proven by leaders in the scientific field, but it is not a science book.  The Bible is a book given to man from God revealing His Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man.  Christ is the center and circumstance throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

There is so much more that can be said about what the Bible is and what it is not.  Suffice it to say, it is a difficult book to fully understand. But if we agree it was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then one inarguable point remains – it is a spiritual book, one which can be best understood or discerned spiritually.

To read the Bible as an academic text is altogether possible.  However, if we approach it in this fashion, we miss the intent of it, which is to come to a greater understanding and relationship with the creator of the universe – our Heavenly Father.

So get into the "Text" and study!  We can learn a great deal in the "classroom" on Sunday mornings.  But the Author wants us to study every day, and prepare us for the ultimate graduation to a place Jesus has personally prepared, and receive the riches stored up for us!