Authentic Bible Study From James MacDonaldSample

Pick it Up

Authentic isn’t something you feel first; it’s something you do. Do it first, feel it later. We’re going for developing the disciplines of a sincere faith. When we talk about developing the discipline of personal Bible study, the first step is really quite simple: pick it up. And when you do, do you know what you are holding? Do you have any sense of that? The Bible is actually beyond any other book. No other volume is worthy to even be compared.

George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”

John Quincy Adams said, “So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.”

So the first thing you have to do is pick it up. And while it’s exciting to hear what people have to say about the Bible, I don’t think there’s really any better way to appropriately understand what we’ve picked up than to look at what God’s Word has to say about itself.

A good summary of that is in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” The rest of Psalm 19 lays out what happens when we actually dig into the Bible. We’re going to be taking a look at the reasons why we should pick up the Bible over the next few days. But for today, remember to pick it up!

Prayer – Father, thank You for the privilege of calling upon Your name. Thank You that in Your great wisdom, You have made Yourself known to us. Grip our hearts afresh with the reality that You have written a Book that reveals Your heart, Your will, and Your way to us. And thank You, God, that You have made us in such a way that we are nourished by its truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.