The Study Book of Life

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB

I have always loved being in a classroom. I am not sure if I am the most teachable student, but I have always found peace in learning. I was that kid that was excited to have my textbooks signed out to me and would quickly make book covers so that they would hold up throughout the school year. Carrying each book was a bit like a badge of pride. Yes, I was that kid.

Looking back on it now, I am not sure I carried my Bible with the same reverence. I am not sure I always derived the same excitement from picking it up or spending the time to read all the assigned chapters. Not that I did that when I still had textbooks, but I did pore over them on test day!

And yet, Biblical Scripture is very clear about its importance to our faith walk. First, ALL Scripture is God-breathed. It’s easy to question whether today’s Bible is truly the Word of God. I know I do after having studied other ancient texts for the same era. Yet, Jesus quoted from the Hebrew Bible and explained in the New Testament how He fulfilled it. There’s a beautiful back and forth.

And as we learn in Sunday school through adult church, the Bible is useful for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. For example, during a season of job searching, I was praying hard for a sign, so that I would know that the job I would take was "the one". In my heart, I was probably testing God. When I opened my Bible, I opened it to the verses in Matthew that call those that ask for a sign with the wrong heart status a “wicked and adulterous nation” (Matthew 12:39 or 16:4). Needless to say, I thought very differently about how I was praying and for what!

We may know mentally the importance of the Bible. If you have been in the church long enough, it is drilled into your head. But is it drilled into your heart? That this is THE study book of life? How often is it your first point of reference? It is so important in teaching us the history and basis of our faith, and how to live it out—to love God above all else, and to love each other sacrificially--mirroring that for all to see as Jesus did. Its gravity makes it feel like quite a heavy, expensive textbook!

So this fall, it is my goal to be excited about the Scriptures like an exciting new (text)book. May they be my go-to read, and my resource on life.