I am Done with Studying the Bible

I’m done with studying the bible.

Maybe you think I’m kidding, but no, I am done with bible study. 

I have three bibles. More than that actually, I probably have a dozen bibles. One-year bibles, different translations, both my parent’s bibles, yeah, a lot of bibles, for the most part they live on shelves. But I have had three bibles that didn’t live on shelves. The ones that I used. My bibles. Two of them are now retired.  

The first bible I actually used was a Ryrie study bible.  And I studied it, underlining verses, notes written in margins, reading the notes that Ryrie provided.  I don’t know anything about Charles Ryrie, but that bible fanned into flames my love for God’s word. Man, I love that bible. After years of use when I was a young man, it is basically worn out. It is the bottom bible in the picture. On the title page of the bible, I wrote this, “Every promise of God within this book I intend to believe; every command of God within this book, I purpose to keep.”

The second bible I used was a Thompson Chain Reference Bible. I don’t know anything about Frank Charles Thompson either. But his system of bible study has been around for more than a hundred years. And I used it to study my bible. Not with the fervor of my youth, but with more thought and reverence. Occasionally underlining verses and adding notes. It was my bible for the last thirty years, sticking with me through the ups and downs of life. It was like a good friend who was always there.  And it came to me from another friend, a lifelong friend, Neil Stern. 

On the title page of this bible is this: “Presented to KarI Hostetler for Christmas 1983, by Neil Stern”.  If you do the math, you will see that the bible sat on my shelf for ten years while my first bible was wearing out. And now it is sitting right next door to the first bible. Like two buds, who walked with me through life. So, I guess they technically ended up on the shelf as well, not from lack of use, but as a reward for faithful service.

Studying the bible has given me wisdom, comfort, truth, encouragement, humility, courage, it has given me a robust worldview that makes sense of the world and gives me hope. I really like what studying the bible has done for me.

Which leads to bible three. My new bible. That one that I needed because I needed a larger print. It is a study bible as well; it is called a Life Application study bible. There is no inscription from a friend, no declaration of my intent, no underlined verses.  At least not yet. I ordered it online, and FedEx delivered it.

But there is a twist, the stated purpose for this study bible is not only to study the bible, but to help us apply it in our lives. Life application. Studying the bible without doing what it says doesn’t change much.  In the introduction, it says, “this bible will not only help you understand God’s word – It will also give you everything you need to apply it to your life and begin to experience the life transformation that God wants for us all.” I want that, that life changing transformation that God has for me.  I’m pretty sure I will like this bible. 

As I was thinking about bible study, I had a revelation of sorts. I realize now, that instead of studying the bible, I am working on applying what I already know.

Since my stroke, my relationship with my bible has changed. A couple of times I mentioned I had to read one word at a time, and how profound that has been. But that is not really what is going on. What is so profound to me is not that I am reading very slowly, but that I am starting to apply those life changing words of God. Those words that I knew as a child, those words that I studied as I studied the bible. Those words, those life changing words. 

I never knew how much I needed to apply the truths that I had studied about, things that I believed in. I was comfortable believing in those things from a distance, from the security of health and abundance that always followed me around.  But now, I am grasping onto those truths like my life depends on it. 

I am so thankful for those years of bible study. They paved the road that lays ahead. A road leading to the life transformation that God wants for me. So, I am done with studying the bible, at least for a while, instead, I want to hear God’s words. Listening, one word at a time, even if that is all I can do. And when I can hear his words, I want to do what they tell me to do.

I realize there is no way I can describe what is happening in my heart. I can’t even comprehend it myself. But somehow God is working in my life. But I don’t know how to describe it except to say, I am applying God’s words in my life. I don’t know that I have said anything remarkable, but I will say this, it is a sweet ride.  And I am not thinking about a Porsche 911, but something more like a Honda CRF 450R.