DO THIS AND YOU WILL END UP IN THE SKY
“As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings.” Deuteronomy 32:11
Every Christian must learn to fly. As the young eaglets take lessons from their mother, we too must take lessons from our Heavenly Father. Apart from the flight manual He has given us, He promised; “…I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5. Our success depends solely on our cooperation with Him throughout.
In our previous message we learned about the habit of reading the Word. We said the Word of God is food. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) We’ve seen how reading the Word of God is equated to feeding. When this is done, our set of rules in our minds responsible for letting the Word pass through into our spirits are changed and begin to recognise the Word. The Word is now allowed to land in our spirits and bring light into our spirits for “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” Psalms 119:130
As promised, let us look into the study of the Word of God. Reading and studying are not the same. As we said reading is like eating, studying will be like digesting.
When we study we seek to understand. We pay attention to details. Things like; the historical background, the speaker, the audience, and the reason the text or chapter was written.
What was the historical setting? i.e. when the book was written, what was happening and how what was happening influenced what was written. How do we understand what we read on the background of what was happening? For example; Luke wrote about the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Jesus according to Luke. He writes in chapter two that Jesus was born in Bethlehem although his parents were from the city of Nazareth in Galilee. The key to unlock this puzzle is found in the historical background. Why did they travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in Judea? The answer is in the historical setting of the time. Read chapter 2 of Luke and you will find the answer. Micah 5:2 will also add more historical light to the story of Bethlehem.
The second thing we must observe is the characters in the chapter we are reading. Who is speaking and to whom is he speaking. We tend to grasp information easier when we know who said what and to whom that was said. Words without identity sometimes carry little impact. All of a sudden the story makes sense as soon as the people involved in the discussion or dialog are identified. We all know this from our personal experience.
The third thing we need to observe is the language used in the chapter or portion we are reading. Grammar usage and the meaning of certain words used in the passage are very important. If you come across the word you don’t understand or are not sure of; check the meaning in the dictionary. Remember you are doing what you are doing because you want to learn how to fly. How do you fly when you don’t understand? Understanding is the key to successful learning.
Fourth; we must seek to interpret what we are reading. Studying is seeking in-depth understanding of what you are reading. As you attempt to interpret what you are studying; make sure your interpretation harmonises with the rest of the Scripture. The Bible emphasises that for any accusation or argument to be considered valid there must be two or three witnesses. Therefore; at list two or three verses will be necessary to validate your interpretation. It is also imperative that we allow the Bible to interpret itself. We may from time to time borrow some external information here there and there to illustrate our point but the foundation of our interpretation should be built on precept upon precept, line upon line. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 28:10
Sixth and lastly; we must seek to apply what we have just learned. It is a futile exercise when we allow our learning to lead us to knowledge that is never interpreted into action. Theory on its own never gets anything done. Of course, knowledge is good but it needs wisdom to release it into practical application. You are not wise until you are able to put what you know into practice. Haven’t you heard this statement before? ‘You must practice what you preach.’ A lot of people cannot put to practice what they know. For knowledge to be beneficial, it must find a way to manifest itself in action. Knowledge without action is simply head knowledge and the Word of God in your head will give you headache. It does not help to know the Bible from cover to cover and yet fail to practice the minutest information we derive from it. The Bible is an action book–a manual. We must always seek to put into action what we learned.
READ, STUDY AND APPLY - THIS IS A SURE WAY TO LEARN TO FLY
No comments:
Post a Comment