Have you ever seen or used an appliance purchased from the manufacturer without a user’s manual/guide? I don’t think so.

This is because the manufacturer produced the appliance and has precise and accurate insight on how it should be set up, used and cared for and he would need to guide the user on how to use the appliances appropriately. With this guide you are given access to the mind of the manufacturer.

The same can be said about God, the believer, and the Bible.

Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭33‬ ‭

New King James Version ‬‬

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

The Apostle Paul, through this text, says that God is so big and unsearchable; He isn’t confined to the logic of this world, so we cannot use our logical minds to understand him. But God wants us to know him. He desires that we grow in our knowledge of him and if we are to comprehend and know him, we can only do so if he reveals himself to us.

This is why he has given us the Word— the revelation of himself, to us. The Word of God allows us to study and understand God and his ways.

II Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭

‬‬New King James Version

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Bible is God-breathed, which means God inspires it. God led and moved men by the Holy Ghost to write down these things that we read now. And apostle Paul says that it is for;

1. Doctrine: Doctrine is what we believe. This means the scripture is the foundation of truth for all that we believe about God.
2. Reproof: The Bible has evidence for what we believe in. From it, we can come to an understanding of why we believe what we believe.
3. Correction: Scripture is meant to correct the believer’s actions, motive, heart, mind, and knowledge.
4. Instruction: A believer who studies the Bible would be properly instructed and directed in growth.

And he has given us all these that we may grow till we are thoroughly furnished and equipped in every good work!

But, it doesn’t stop there, there is a responsibility we believers have; a part we have to play. To truly understand the scripture and everything embedded in it, we need to study it. If you don’t deliberately study the Word, you can’t truly know who God is.

This is the part where many individuals get it wrong; We have opinions on concepts in the Bible when we haven’t studied it, sing songs we don’t understand or are scripturally incorrect, have doctrines and principles that don’t have scriptural foundation, or are based on a misinterpretation of the scripture just because we heard it from a random person in a YouTube video.

This isn’t meant to be our disposition to the Word! We ought to study it.

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬ ‭

New King James Version ‬‬

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The word “study” in this text is the Greek word “spoudazo” which doesn’t just mean reading alone, but reading and every other thing that constitutes diligence.

So, Apostle Paul instructs Timothy (and by extension, the believer) to diligently study the word. The word “approved” in the text denotes that there is a standard in God. We put diligence in every other thing but the Word of God.

Maturity and growth in the faith comes as a result of what you know. Growth is discernible in a believer’s action, speech, emotions and priority. This growth occurs by the consistent and intentional study of the Word. This is why through the epistles, one prayer that was well repeated was that of growth in revelation knowledge. Because growth in knowledge translates to growth in God and the faith.

Don’t take chances with the study of the Word. Be diligent!

Prayer Point:

I know the importance of the scripture and that it is God’s Word to me so from this day onward, I give myself to diligent study of the Word! I do not leave it to chance.