This is the first lesson in Mel Lawrenz’ new “How to Study the Bible” series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

I want to say, right at the start, that I am so encouraged that you, and tens of thousands of other people, are signed up for our ongoing series on understanding, studying, and applying the Bible to our lives. I’m encouraged because I have seen over my lifetime how the power and truth of the word of God have given people life when it seems like so much about our world is going downhill.

I read the Bible when I was growing up, but it wasn’t until I was 17 years old and someone put an easy-to-understand version of the New Testament in my hand and I devoured it one summer, that I experienced the ring of truth and the deliciousness of the word of God. That summer changed the whole trajectory of my life because from then on I knew where I could hear the voice of God confronting me, beckoning me, filling me, correcting me, inspiring me.

I was inspired to read the Bible—slowly, methodically, prayerfully—but I also learned about studying the Bible, which is the subject of the series we begin today.

I want you to be encouraged by the idea of “studying” the Bible, not to be intimidated by the thought. Studying the Bible is for every believer. You do not need to know Hebrew and Greek or invest a thousand dollars in books in order to study the Bible.

The word study (from Latin studium) refers to devotion, concentration, and zeal. So when you pick up the Bible and read, intently longing to understand it and being willing to submit to it, you are studying the Bible. This holy process begins before you turn to any Bible study tool. Studying the Bible begins in the soul. It is when you open the Bible and say to God: I want to know you more, and I am willing to read intently, with devotion, concentration, and zeal.

Now there are many other things we can do to study the Bible that go beyond reading it. In this series “How to Study the Bible” we will look into book studies and character studies and thematic studies and many other methods. But it all depends on this: What is in our hearts? Do we want to hear a word from God? Do we have a sense of responsibility to do the work to get to the actual meaning of biblical texts? Will we concentrate on the Scriptures as a lifestyle, knowing that, with the passage of years, we will become better, wiser, people?

This would be a good time for you to invite your friends and family, a group you belong to, or a congregation you lead, to sign up for “How to Study the Bible.” Each week Bible Gateway will email a new piece in this series for you to read at your convenience.

Just point people to the Bible Gateway signup page here (do it today, if you can):

It is great to be on this adventure with you in the months to come!

Mel Lawrenz

Mel Lawrenz trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s minister at large. He has a Ph.D. in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel is the author of 18 books, the latest, How to Understand the Bible—A Simple Guide and Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See other books here.