This is not a post intending to get in anyone's business or tell them how to run their lives. It's just some thoughts intended to help. I've had people express to me that they read their bible daily but do not know how to study it. This post is to give some tips in that area.
First, have a bible with a concordance and glossary in the back. Also, keep a dictionary close by. I also recommend having a bible app program on your phone or computer so that you can look up the meaning of a word in one of the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek). Sometimes this is helpful because the English meanings may be different from what Bible writers intended. Also, it is helpful at times to have bible maps to understand where places were.
Always have a notebook to jot down things you want to remember or look up in the future. This may be good when you do not want to veer or get sidetracked from what you are currently studying but you know you would like to understand better. This way you will not forget to eventually go back and study that subject, too.
Do not be afraid to underline or circle words and jot down meanings in the margins so you do not have to constantly look that word up when you read the passage. You will not always remember meanings when you come back to a passage in later months. I know that some people do not like to write in their bibles feeling it is sacrilege to do so. I once felt that way when I first was saved and got into going to church. My pastor told me that it wasn't and that I should personalize my bible. It's God's gift to me. My bible is full of underlines, highlighted verses, notes in the margins and sermon titles in the margins from preachers I have heard. The empty pages in the front and back are full of notes to reference when I need to go back and refresh my understanding.
If you have opportunity or access to commentary books either in book form or via the internet, I recommend you use those also. Be sure it's from a reliable source and one you trust. There are many different doctrines out there and a commentary should line up with yours. Be advised that not every commentary will get every thought or doctrine correct, even the ones you trust. Do not be afraid to check more than one commentary. They are after all, only men who may be wise and intelligent, but are still fallible at times.
One of the most important things is to understand who is being spoken to, what is being spoken about and how it applies to us when we study. Believe it or not, some things are spoken directly to and are for specific people in the bible and does not always apply directly to us today. While all scripture is given for an example it doesn't necessarily apply dogmatically to every Christian today.
This girl here is a KJV only girl. Not because I believe all the thee and thou, and eth words are necessary but because I believe it was translated from the correct texts or manuscripts. I believe the bible writers were inspired by God but I do NOT believe the interpreters of the KJV were inspired. I think they were intelligent, scholarly men who were godly men seeking right and praying about it. With that being said, I think we should be very careful about getting caught up in how the order of the books were placed in our bible. They are not in chronological order. Therefore, we must not see "transitions" from one place to another simply by what order the books show up in the bible. For instance, the writings of Paul are placed in the bible according to their length and not according to WHEN he wrote them. Do not make the mistake of thinking Paul said one thing to the Corinthians and then later he moved to say something else to the Galatians and therefore there was a transition in Paul's thinking and sayings. This cannot be so since the book of Galatians was written before the books to the Corinthians. The only way to allow this skewed thinking is if you have decided that the KJV interpreters were inspired and therefore they placed the books in that order to show a progression and transition in Paul's thinking. Do you understand what I am driving at? We can allow our bible study and understanding to be skewed by focusing on what we believe was intended simply because of where a particular book of the bible was placed. This is just one example of getting off in our thinking simply due to where a book is placed in our bibles.
Do not be afraid to ask someone such as your pastor, pastor's wife, Sunday school teacher, etc. when you have a question. That is really their main jobs! They are to train and instruct you in your knowledge of the bible to help you in your walk with the Lord.
Above all, do not let the fact that you do not understand a verse or passage in the bible detour you from studying it. There will be those verses and passages. It's ok to set that area aside and decide that you'll understand someday and then move onto another passage. There may be some things that you do not understand this side of heaven but giving up and not trying is not the answer. If you give up, you will not learn and grow at all. If you decided in the first grade that reading was too hard and gave up and refused to try anymore, you'd never have learned to read and understand. It's as simple as that! I firmly believe study is much more important than reading through the bible in a year. I know many people who have read through their bibles year after year but still do not understand most passages because they refuse to study and try to understand.
I hope these dos and don'ts will help somebody out there.
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