Real Study Speaks

Each morning a mother would relax in the living room reading her Bible. After observing this habit for several years, her 7-year-old daughter finally asked, “Are you ever going to finish reading that book?”

The uninitiated may ask the same question of all Bible students: “Will you ever stop studying the Bible?”

The answer: “No, I’ll never stop reading the Word, just as I will never stop eating and drinking.” Bible study is essential to successful living.

Unlike any book ever written, the Bible is limitless in its truth, depthless in its revelations, and endless in sharing its life principles. David shared a deep insight when he said, “The unfolding of your words gives light” (Ps. 119:130).

The Bible illumines and enhances every aspect of our existence. Its study expands our mental faculties, imparts supernatural energy, facilitates life wisdom, increases moral discernment, heightens love for righteousness, and gives us power against sin.

The more we read the Bible, the more our understanding and grasp of temporal and eternal truths and life skills are increased.*

Following are 25 study tips to help you achieve new levels in the study of God’s Word. They are organized as an acronym of the phrase: REAL STUDY SPEAKS and WIDENS LIFE.

REAL (study approach)

A systematic approach to Bible study is crucial to providing a foundation for a lasting love of God’s Word.

R—Read (Hear)
E—Explain
A—Apply
L—Live

STUDY (characteristics)

Essential characteristics of Bible study are valued and nurtured as they are highlighted and habituated.

S—Supplication (prayer)
T—Trust
U—Understand
D—Daily
Y—Yield

SPEAKS (pillars)

Principles that empower and undergird personal study.

S—Spiritual guidance
P—Providence
E—Enlightenment
A—Action
K—Knowledge
S—Standards

WIDENS (benefits)

Bible study is not an end, but a means to knowing and trusting Jesus as we navigate life.

W—Wisdom
I—Insight
D—Discernment
E—Energy
N—Network with divinity
S—Sanctification

LIFE (outcomes)

Bible study has a continuous, transforming, sanctifying impact on one’s life and legacy.

L—Liberates
I—Initiates
F—Fulfills
E—Eternal life

Perhaps you’ll find some or all of these concepts useful in enriching your experience in studying the Bible. Accept the challenge to study God’s Word daily.

* See Ellen G. White, Mind, Character, and Personality (Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1977), vol. 1, chap. 11, “Bible Study and the Mind.”

Delbert W. Baker is vice chancellor of Adventist University of Africa, near Nairobi, Kenya.