When we look at society and culture today, we see a downward spiral in homes that are rooted in dad & mom loving one another in a Christlike manner and children who are being shown Godly marriages. What is causing this and why is that happening? Well, the simple answer is God is being stripped out of every aspect of life possible. When was the last time that you and your spouse sat down and had a Bible study together? When was the last time you and your spouse had a Bible study with your children? When was the last time that you engaged in a personal Bible study of your own? These are all questions we need to be asking ourselves as New Testament Christians who are claiming to be living our lives in service to the King of kings. It is easy to say “join us in Bible study or worship on Sunday or Wednesday” but not so easy to ask someone to engage in a Bible study or to apply a passage correctly, and accurately, from the Bible to a conversation that is taking place.
We need to be bringing daily Bible readings and Bible studies back into our lives at home because that is where it all begins. We need to be shaping our lives, and homes, so that when the world looks at us, they will see a family unit living a life reflecting what we read in Joshua 24:15 “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It is easy to get caught up in the daily routines of work, school, extracurricular activities and other things that require our time but we need to be dedicating a portion of our day, every day, to the study of the Bible, in order to know not only what it says but to have it written on our heart so that it is an integral part of how we live while in this life.
As we study God’s word and make it an integral part of our life, we will see that life becomes more joyous and that the burdens that we face daily are not so hard to bear because with daily Bible study a regular prayer life will also develop. How can we be sure that a regular prayer life will develop? If we are truly studying the Bible we will be praying to God for a deeper, richer understanding of His Word and praying for the ability to let our life be reflecting the light of His glory. We need to be reading and studying God’s word and realizing that we can pray, just as Jesus did in John 17, for unity with the Father, Christ, and our fellow brethren. Another aspect of regular Bible study is that we will see that there are passages that we can use in our prayer life to ask for strength, forgiveness, and prayers of repentance when the need arises. Psalm 51 is a passage that David wrote, and it is entitled “a prayer of repentance” and is suitable for any child of God to use as a guide when the road becomes rough and we may find ourselves off course.
Going back to the beginning of this article, when was the last time you sat down and read Ephesians 5 and compared your life to it as a married person? When was the last time that you read 1 Corinthians 13 and compared your life to it? When was the last time you read Titus 2 and reflected on it? Gentlemen, when was the last time you read 1 Timothy 3 and thought about how your life measures up to what is listed as attributes of elders, which are also the attributes of a faithful Christian man? This is for everyone, are we guilty of gossiping and slandering spoken against in Romans 1; 2 Corinthians 12, and 1 Timothy 5?
Let us strive to be stronger Christians, to make a diligent effort to read our Bible every day and to make Bible study with our spouse and children a part of our daily routine because if we don’t, we run a severe risk of becoming spiritually dormant and guilty of complacency. None of us want to be found guilty of spiritual complacency. Jesus spoke against this very thing in Revelation 3 beginning in verse 14 when he spoke about the lukewarm church in Laodicea. In verse 16 of that chapter Jesus says, “…because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” When the Lord comes again, let us be found faithful and hot with a burning desire to serve Him and bring Him the glory and honor that is rightfully His. May the Lord bless and keep each of us as we strive to live as faithful as possible until that great and awesome day that He returns.
-by Jonathan Bennett
Are You Studying God’s Word?