Why Study the Bible

Aug 09, 2021

This post was originally published as Episode 2 of the Bible Study Made Simple Podcast. You can listen here

Why is Bible study so important? Who is it important for? Let’s talk about it. 

I am Eva Kubasiak, and this is Bible Study Made Simple. Have you ever felt intimidated or confused by the Bible? Or maybe you have started studying the Bible before but haven’t found a way to incorporate it into your regular routine. The Bible Study Made Simple podcast is here to help you move from intimidated and confused to confident and joyful in your approach to Scripture, and help you find a routine that sticks. The goal isn’t checking off a box perfectly, but instead our goal is an intimate connection with the God of the Bible - plus having tons of fun along the way! 

If we are going to have a whole podcast on studying the Bible, we need to know why it’s important. I always hated growing up when I asked an adult a question and their answer was “because I said so.” That answer was never quite good enough for me. So today, we are going to try to get to the bottom of it! 

If you listened to Episode 1, you heard the story of 3 girls. 3 girls who were missing something in their life, and the answer for each of them was Bible study. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, I encourage you to go back and listen! We are going to be picking up there with each of the three girls. 

Girl number 1 wanted to feel God. She wanted to love Him more. This girl represents each of our hearts. 

Have you ever watched a reality dating show? I am not recommending you go watch one, but they can be entertaining sometimes. One thing I see over and over again is girls saying they are looking for a “rock.” They want their boyfriend or husband to be a solid rock, or place for them to land. This typically comes with some sort of confession that they have emotions and that they want a safe place to express them. 

If we are being honest, I think we realize that this isn’t only true of dating shows. We all want a rock. We all want a safe place to express our emotions. In fact, we may have even put this “rock” label on someone in our lives before. 

But any rock, anything we are putting our trust in, or building our foundation on that isn’t God Himself, will ultimately fail us. David, one of Israel’s most famous kings, the guy who fought Goliath said it this way in Psalm 18. He said, “For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock? Only our God.” 

So why do we study the Bible? We study it to build our lives, our foundation on the one true rock. When our hearts are set firmly on Christ and His Word, we will not be shaken. No matter what comes our way, or what our emotions are telling us, we will be able to stand firm on truth, knowing that God is who He says He is, even when we can’t feel Him. 

Girl number 2 from the first episode knew a lot about God, and wanted to know Him personally. She represents our head. It seems like Bible study might only help us know about God, but ultimately it helps us get to know Him on an intimate level. In fact, Jesus talks about this using a Shepherd’s metaphor. He calls Himself the Shepherd, and us the sheep. He said His sheep know His voice. How do you get to know someone’s voice? You listen to them regularly. 

One of the things I was nervous about becoming a mom was knowing my daughter. While we were in the hospital, they took her for some testing. Our room was right near the nursery where they kept the babies so we could hear crying every now and then. We heard a few cries while she was gone, and then all of a sudden Rhett and I looked at each other - one cry was different. It was our girl. We knew it, because we had been around her constantly, we knew the sound of her cry. 

As we are getting to know God, we become more and more familiar with His voice. When we know the truth of His Word, it is easier to spot messages that are not true, it is easier to see which way He is leading us, and it is easier to connect with Him - we truly know Him. After all, the Bible is His Word to us, and it is how He reveals Himself to us. Studying His Word for yourself will help you uncover the truth about who He is and let it sink into your heart. 

Girl number 3 was trying to do all the right things, but still managed to feel empty. She represents our actions, or to keep the H theme going, our Hands. 

It can be easy to reduce our relationship with God to a checklist. That’s what the Pharisees did in Jesus’ day, and it’s still a problem in our churches today, it is known as legalism. Legalism says to do the right things, but just checking off a box doesn’t help us connect with God. It doesn’t draw us closer to Him. In fact, in some ways it makes us feel further away because we are trying to find salvation in our own power. 

There’s also a flip side to that coin though. We can’t just listen to God and study His Word and not do what it says. James, the brother of Jesus says that this is just deceiving ourselves! And he later goes on to say that faith without works is dead. There has to be a balance between seeking God in His Word, and taking action on what He calls us to do. Our faith can’t stay in our hearts and our heads, it has to also move into our hands. 

In fact, each of these 3 parts can’t be separated from the others. When we pair the head and hands, and miss the heart, that’s where legalism comes into play. When we have the heart and the hands, we miss the head and lots of well-intentioned believers have done more harm than good by missing out on the truth of what God’s Word says. And when we have the heart and the head but don’t do anything about it, we are not actually putting into practice our faith and we are back to deceiving ourselves. 

So why should we study the Bible? Because Bible study helps us love God, it helps us know God, and it helps us know how to live like Christ so we can bring glory to God. 

If you aren’t currently prioritizing your Bible study time, can I encourage you to make it a priority in your life? As believers we should want these things, we should want to love God, know God, and live like Christ. But if you don’t have that desire already, did you know you can ask God for it? 

God wants us to seek Him. He wants us to study His Word. But if our heart is not in it, we can ask Him for a desire and step forward in obedience. There have been several times in my life (okay, more than several) where I have honestly not felt like studying the Bible, or not even felt like God was there. But when we step out in obedience, God meets us there. 

So here is a prayer for you when you don’t want to study the Bible. 

Father, I wish I had a desire to study Your Word. I know the importance of it, and I know that I “should” study, but for some reason, it just isn't clicking. Give me a desire to open Your Word. Give me a heart that longs for more of You. Amen. 

If you don’t know how to get started with Bible study, I would recommend getting into a Bible reading habit. I have a free guide just for you that you can download at evakubasiak.com/habit or just follow the link in the show notes. As you take your next steps towards God through studying the Bible, I pray that you remember our goal is connection with God over perfection in our day to day routine. Remember, your time with God doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.