Imagine that you had the opportunity back in 1997 to invest $1,000 in this little company that just went public on the stock market called amazon.com. Would you do it then if you knew what would happen 25 years later? Now $1,000 dollars is a fairly significant investment, and you could do a lot of things with it, but if you chose to invest that money, it would now be worth well over 1 million dollars, and that is over a thousand times what you put in initially!
Similar to that, there are many things you can choose to spend your time on this summer, and one of them is to study the Bible. But unlike investing in amazon.com, your investment of time in God’s Word will get you much more than 1 million dollars, as you will gain insights that will serve you well for the rest of your life, and rewards that will last through eternity. I’ll tell you some benefits from my own life that studying the Bible has benefitted me.
Origin, Purpose, and Meaning
One of the greatest reasons for studying the Bible is getting to know more about God our Creator and how greatly He loves us. And contained within the pages of Scripture is the account of how He powerfully created the world, set everything in motion, and how He still holds all things together. Yet more awesome is how He loves us despite our shortcomings, and the way that His Son came to die and save us from our sins. The Bible is a love letter to us from God and gives us a true understanding of the world around us, and shows us our own purpose and meaning, which is all derived from God and His love.
Guide for Living
And when we come to understand our purpose, the Bible also shows us how to live in the way that is best for us, which pleases God. The Bible gives us direction in so many different areas of life, whether it be family, work, friends, our relationship to God, to authority, and the list could go on for a long time. It says in Psalm 119:105 that “Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path”. Two books that demonstrate this well are the books of Proverbs and James, both of which have lots of very wise and practical advice that teach us how to live.
Powersource
From the very beginning, the whole Bible points to Jesus, and following Him is the key to finding our purpose and meaning, and He will guide us and empower us through the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. Without Jesus, we can’t fulfill our greatest potential and purpose, but with Him we can do all things! Jesus promised in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance everything that Jesus has taught us. But how will we know what Jesus has taught us if we don’t spend time in prayer and in His Word to us? So when we study and learn the Bible it is like learning the language that the Holy Spirit speaks to us in. And when we walk with the Holy Spirit, we have the power of God in us to face whatever is coming at us in life.
Foundational
Jesus told a story of two men who were building houses. One built his house on a rock solid foundation, and the other built on a sandy, unstable one. Then a storm came, and the one on the rock foundation stood, but the other house was destroyed. He used this illustration to show that the person who built their life on following God and His Word was stable in faith even in difficult times in life, but the other person was not prepared to face the trials, and their life fell apart.
So regardless of what you do this summer, I urge you to spend time in God’s Word, and in my experience, there is no better way to do that than the National Bible Bee. The encouraging community and camaraderie that the National Bible Bee has given me and my family every single year is incredible, and I have grown so much in studying, knowing, memorizing, and proclaiming God and His Word ever since I started participating 13 years ago!
Written by NBB Alumnus: William Saunders
