Why Do We Study the Bible?

[HKHaugan]

Is it to feel good about what we already believe? Is it having a safe place to be with others who believe the same things? Is it a search to make sure that what we believe is right? Is it a path to grow and enter each next moment as a conscious disciple of Jesus? These are legitimate questions. The reason I say that is because if we are studying it just for ourselves we are missing why we have it. Its content should define our starting lines for every next moment.   They are our faith moments to be witnesses.  Our destination is already securely in the Lord's hands.

If the Word gives our mind a way to think unlike any other way, a worldview that makes sense in a corrupt and mindless society, a personal sense of security in self-worth, in relationships and in the spiritual confusion around us, that’s just half of its purpose. The other half is to move back into all of that and bring its insightful reality for others to experience. The Bible is the fountainhead for life and introduces mankind back to itself, its origin, its purpose and the substance that makes it all work, faith.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Heb.11:1-3 NIV).”

We really need to rely on that truth. Everything that has been said in all of Scripture sets the stage for and becomes the foundation upon which every next moment of our lives finds its fulfillment. “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 (2Tim.3:16-17).”

Faith is the fundamental exercise of sorting out our life experience and Scripture is its platform.

If we can agree faith is foundational to not only being human but being human the way Jesus was human then we have a way of entering the door to every human heart. We have a key to relationships. We have a key to getting the most out of our mind, our heart and our spirit. We have a key to walk into and through the halls of learning, a map to navigate the minefield of our emotions and the light to chart our way through the valley of darkness we call the world. Faith unlocks who, what and why we are thus making every next moment the most significant moment we engage.

Jesus puts it plainly, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mt.6:22-23 NIV)”

Faith is our born-in invisible ability to see what is taking place both in the visible and the invisible. But faith in itself is not sufficient. The question that underlies faith is this, “In what or whom do we place our faith?” Then the obligatory ones that follow, “Is what or who we believe, trust and have faith in, working for us?” “Is it giving us inner stability, relationships that are open, honest and secure and the desire to share it with others in order for them to have what we have?” Perhaps that is the final question. Is what we believe and have faith in to guide our actions what we want to pass on to friends, neighbors and our children? And are we doing that and if not, why?

If we tap what we have been given at birth, and that is faith, and place it in the hands of Jesus, then the eyes are opened to reality as it was before Creation, as it has been and always will be. Faith is as much a part of us as breathing. In fact it is our spiritual breathing mechanism. We can’t escape it, deny it or avoid it. Each human being by birth is a spiritual being therefore faith-destined, a personal destiny drawing inexorably toward God the Father, Jesus’ goal for us. The Scriptures are the lenses for the eyes of our faith.

The very fact that we have a choice is built into us from birth. How we choose, what we choose, when we choose and then decide upon a course of action is based on what we finally have faith in. We will believe in something and someone every day. God, as He was revealed in Jesus Christ, waits at the crossroads of every next moment where choices are being made. That is the life process and He is always ready to respond.

The very choice I am right at this moment making to write this is based on faith, faith in my Father, faith in His Son and faith in the Holy Spirit. Faith directs my thoughts to let Him guide me into action. It is my faith in God’s presence as He comes in Jesus Christ to choose to react according to what His Word directs. It is my faith knowing that I am a sinner, imperfect, self-centered, wanting things to happen my way, to avoid conflict, pain and rejection, that I find is the darkness into which Jesus came to give me a lamp for my feet and a light for my path (Ps.119:105). The Scriptures are the lenses for the eyes of our faith.

It is the spiritual reality of His personal care for me that I believe in my mind, trust in my heart and have faith in my spirit. It is His forgiveness He shared on the Cross that lets me know He traversed the unseen dimension for my sake and for the sake of every human being since Adam. He was the only One who could make the kinds of choices and decisions that are perfect in the unseen that give me hope and security as I attempt to traverse the invisible. His eyes are my eyes. His eyes are eyes of His Word. The Scriptures are the lenses for the eyes of our faith.

Do I always get it right? Absolutely not! But He never leaves me and is always there at the point of my choices especially when I tell Him how I try to do life without Him. When I obey He blesses me. When I repent He forgives me and we move on together to every next moment, every next choice and every next opportunity. What I have found is that I look forward to sharing Him with others. I look for that opportunity wherever it presents itself. If it is just an insight of His that can be interjected in a conversation, a way to respond to a plea for Him directly or just setting the stage for a later occasion to talk about Him, I have found that He always makes a positive mutual difference.