We are well into the season of Lent.  This week’s meditation is on the discipline of study.  When we study scripture and theology, we learn more of God, and most important, we grow closer to God. 

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4

Studying scripture to learn the “who, what, when, where and why” of scripture is important.  Knowing what happened “way back then” is great knowledge, but our study must be more than book knowledge of the scriptures.  The two biggest questions about any scripture are these: What was God telling the original hearers of the word?  What is God telling us today?  These two questions might be answered with the same answer, and sometimes it can be different.  The great thing about the scriptures are that they can speak to us in our situation today even if the original writing was to an ancient situation.

Studying the word takes us beyond the face value and into the depths of God’s connection with us.

This week, take some time to study a passage.  Get a commentary, ask your pastor about it, try to go deeper with one passage and ask yourself the two questions.

Peace,

Pastor Bill