The importance of studying scripture
Within Deuteronomy, the Lord called the Hebrew people to follow him in willful obedience: And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it (Deuteronomy 32:46-47). Within this passage are some simple truths. For anything we find important, we pay close attention and learn all we can about it, to include how it works, what it costs, and what it does; if it is a person, we want to know their history, what they do, how they think, etc. As a Christian, we should get just as excited to learn all we can about the Lord. We should have a strong desire to worship Him, to seek Him, and to seek His understanding in the things of life. Just as every servant desires to please their master, and in our time, each employee desires to please the one who has hired him, our desire as a Christian should be to serve God with all our heart. This means making the teachings of God important and relevant in our everyday lives. The only way we can ever expect to serve God in a way that He will find pleasing is to learn all we can about what he wants us to do. We do this through the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we study the Bible.
It is through the studying of the Bible where we truly begin to learn what the about the special relationship that we, as Christians, have with the Lord. Even David realized this as he wrote, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalms 119:11) and even the apostle Paul saw the necessity of studying the scriptures: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
The lost world sees the various things that God has called his children to do as being out of date, old-fashioned, and even archaic. What they do not understand is that God calls us, as Christians, to a higher standard. All it takes to understand how the world sees the faithful Christian is to look how we are portrayed in the entertainment industry. They see verses such as And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) not as verses being full of promise, but as verses that restrict what Christians do. God has set for us to have a higher standard than the lost around us. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 20:7) and Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy (1 Peter 1:13-16) are both passages that clearly teach that God does want us to live to the standards that He has set for us and not the standards of the world. After all, no one objects to one’s employer setting a standard at the workplace, no one thinks a parent is being unfair when they set standards for their children, and yet many object to the standards that the Lord has set for His children.
In my own life I never understood the joy that Christ can bring into the life of one of His children until I really became serious in my faith. Like many Christians, I saw the scriptures calling me to live a holy life as being something covered by the blood of Christ – that I could live my life the way I saw fit with my sins being covered by a quick prayer asking for forgiveness. Now, since developing a closer walk with the Lord, I understand that His call for me to live a holy life is a voluntary call; He sincerely desires for me to have a holy life but it must be out of an attitude of gratefulness and want that I voluntarily put myself under His will. I now have a sincere desire to be an obedient servant to Christ and out of that desire, I have developed a deeper love for the Lord. I do not see the things that I lost by my choice to be an obedient servant because all those things did were to appeal to the flesh. I now count the blessings, and most of all, the thought of hearing Jesus tell me those words I long to hear: Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21)
