Lesson 3: Do it by the Book--3.1 A Bicentennial Resolution

The summer of 1976 was a memorable one in many ways.  Of course it was the 200^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States.  The whole country was gearing up for the celebration of a lifetime.  For me personally, it was a time of refreshment, challenge and personal growth. The school year of 1975-1976 was my first year working for a campus ministry and it had been a tough one.  I often felt out of place and insecure.  During the summers, the ministry staff left campus, to go on a variety of “summer projects.”  Originally, I was assigned to work at a camp.  When my boss told me my assignment, I thought he was kidding.  I am the least outdoorsy person I know, so I thought this posting must have been a mistake.  While trying to have a good attitude and prepare for fighting bugs and avoiding poison ivy, I got the last minute news that I had been transferred to the project at Panama City Beach, Florida.  I couldn’t have been happier if I had a reprieve from death row.

The Panama City project was one of many where college students from across the country spent the summer at a resort area, got a job to support themselves, and spent their free time learning to follow Jesus and share His love with the tourists and townspeople of the area.  As a staff member I spent my time teaching, encouraging, counseling and training the students.  As a part of our outreach to the townspeople, project staff and students all participated in a local church.

At the church I was attending, the young adult Sunday School was taught by a young seminarian who was doing an internship at the church.  This guy was so good looking that we said he could melt butter at the North Pole.  I don’t remember this name but, in my memory, I have always recalled him as “Mr. Buttermelter.”  However, he was not only physically attractive but was spiritually winsome as well.  He was immersed in God’s Word and taught our class with conviction.  One night when I was lying in bed unable to sleep due to the the irritation of sand flea bites (guess I could not get away from bugs completely), I found myself talking to God about “Mr. Buttermelter.”  I told the Lord that I wanted to marry a man who knows the word of God inside and out like he did.  Even though I did not hear an audible voice, I sensed in my spirit so clearly God say to me, don’t seek to marry a man who knows and obeys the Scriptures, seek to become a woman of the Word yourself. So right then and there, I resolved to follow Paul’s admonition to Timothy: “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman tested by trial who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, AMP)

Almost everyone who teaches people how to study the Bible agrees that Bible study is a three-step process:

• Observation:  Finding out what the passage you are reading actually says.
• Interpretation:  Understanding the meaning or lesson that the author of the passage was trying to impart.
• Application:  Asking God what thoughts and actions I need to change or adopt or do in order to obey Him in light of the passage I have studied.

An easy way to observe what the Scripture says is to pretend you are an investigative journalist and ask the standard questions used in an interview: who, what, when, where, why and how. Here are a few examples of the question you might ask:

v  Who wrote the letter? To whom was it written? Who is the hero of this story? Who is the villain?  Who is the main subject of this poem?

v  What action took place?  What actions are being encouraged?  What actions should be avoided?

v  When did the story take place?  When should an instruction be followed?

v  Where did the story take place?  Where should this word to the wise be implemented?

v  Why did the hero act the way he did?  Why was the villain in the wrong?  Why is a certain action encouraged or discouraged?

v  How was the action accomplished?  How is this command to be followed?

To understand the meaning of a passage, you must understand the context. 

   

What does it say just before and just after the section you are studying?  What is the main theme of the Bible book in which these verses are found?  What does the whole Bible say about this topic?  The notes in your Bible or a commentary may be helpful if you just can’t figure it out but remember these are just other people’s opinions.  The best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture.

It is important to know what the Bible teaches and what that means, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” (James 1:22-25, NLT) Sometimes it helps to write out a practical step you can take to obey what you have learned and set a short timetable to do it (today or this week).  Then put on your Nikes and JUST DO IT!

 

Learning the Lesson:

Try the three-step process of Bible study looking at the verses below:

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on His law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.  (Psalm 1:1-3, NIV)

Observation:

v  Who is the subject of this psalm (psalms are poems that were often set to music and sung in worship)?

v  What actions does this person avoid? What does he do instead?

v  When does he meditate? When does he see the results of his meditations?

v  Why does he meditate?

Interpretation: 

The key to understanding the meaning of Psalm 1 is to know what “meditate” means.  According to that “font of all knowledge” Wikipedia, “Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state.” But is this the kind of meditation the Bible is talking about?  To decide, look at these other verses about meditating:

v  I will consider all Your works and meditate on all Your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:12, NIV)

v  I meditate on your precepts and consider Your ways. (Psalm 119:15, NIV)

v  Cause me to understand the way of Your precepts, that I may meditate on Your wonderful deeds. (Psalm 119:27, NIV)

v  I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all Your works and consider what Your hands have done. (Psalm 143:5, NIV)

v  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8, NIV)

Based on these verses, write out a definition of meditate:

Application: 

Ask God to show you when and how He wants you to put in practice what you have learned today.