My aunt Shirley recently gave me a Scripture journal that allows you to copy several verses from Romans each day. It also leaves room for you to write any notes that you want on the opposite page. I recently watched a video of one of Rabbi Greg Hershberg’s sermons recorded when he visited our church. He encouraged us to look up the words when studying the Bible and challenged us to really dig into Scripture. I have been trying to do this as I am studying through the book of Romans, and it is amazing how much more you learn when you do this!
I should also warn you that it is a lot more challenging when you do this! When you better understand a Scripture, you are more responsible for obeying it. The truth is that this kind of studying can be a little dangerous! If you dig into the Scriptures and really study it out, you will see and learn things you didn’t know before. It’s easy to read through some Scripture passages and honestly, not completely understand what is meant by them. However, if we wish to know the Word better, we must learn to study it better; we can’t be content with shallow reading.
Paul was a brilliant man and to be perfectly honest, it is possible for us to read some of Romans and not exactly understand the full meaning of what he is trying to say to us. But, if you are willing to dig in deeper, you can figure it out. Take Romans 2:21-26 for example. A casual reading might not get much out of it, but a deeper study can stomp all over your toes. (Take a few minutes to read the verses, please.) First reading, not much conviction… but, after deeper study… ouch! This passage is warning about those who are not careful to live out the Scriptures that they know.
A deeper look at Romans 2:21-26 opens your eyes to the importance of what Paul was trying to say here, but if you do not dig into these Scriptures, you may not realize that. Paul is actually challenging his readers to more authentic living. He is challenging them to not just preach, speak, teach, or share the gospel, but to live it out in their daily lives. He was challenging them to do some self-reflecting and ask themselves some hard questions. Paul was challenging us to ask ourselves if we are living an authentic Christian life or are we perhaps living in hypocrisy.
He is telling us that ritual means nothing if we are not truly living obedient lives. He is asking us to consider if we are living out the Scriptures we know or are we still “secretly” sinning and doing the very things we so quickly judge others for doing. (I told you that this type of studying could be dangerous!) This kind of studying can really shake things up. Yes, it’s a lot easier to just “read” the Bible and not try to dig so deeply into it. It’s a lot easier to stick to a shallow reading of Scripture, but is that really what we want? Do we want to stay on “milk, not solid food” (Heb. 5:12), or do we want to mature and grow?
Growth is hard but I don’t want to be one of those people who never spiritually mature; I don’t want to stay in the shallow end all my life. I want to have the courage to get out of the boat and walk into deeper waters with Him. This means I must want Him to teach me His Word; I must be willing to study it, even the hard stuff! Friend, if you know anything at all about Bible prophecy, you know we are living in the last days. Now more than ever, we need to know our Bible. The best way to guard against the deception running rampant in this world is to know Truth.
His Word is Truth (John 17:17) and it is our best weapon in these evil days. This means that it is more important than ever to study your Bible. Beloved, like Rabbi Greg, I challenge you to get serious about studying your Bible. I challenge you to look up the original meaning of words in the verses. Look them up in different versions of the Bible to help you better understand what it is saying. I find it helpful to write Scriptures out. This helps me remember it better and offers the chance to write notes to help me better understand it. Find whatever works for you, my friend; just study His Word!
I would be remiss if I did not remind you, as Paul did in Romans 2:21-26, that it is vital to live out the Word that you are studying. Nothing repels people further from Christ than religious hypocrites! It doesn’t matter how much Scripture we know, what matters is how much Scripture we live out in our lives! We need to be authentically doing our best to live out the Scriptures we are learning if we want to draw people to Christ. And, friend, we need to be doing all we can to draw people to Him! People need to see Jesus in us so that they will want to know Him too.
Be doers of the word, not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. James 1:22
Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. Ps. 119:18
Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart. Ps. 119:34
Katrina Douglas
2/23/2022
