By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” 2 Tim 2: 15-16

It is important that all believers are deliberate about being a student of the word so that we can show ourselves approved of God, walking in victory and rightly interpreting, teaching, and explaining the word of God. The Bible also encouraged us to shun profane and vain babbling-, words that are worthless and do not add any value to us in any way. Instead, they degrade our knowledge of the truth. These words are totally irrelevant and have no basis in the scriptures. They seek to introduce contaminants into our minds and turn us away from the truth. This is why we must study to know the truth so we can immediately identify these vain words introduced to us by the enemy of our soul.

There is no room for ignorance of the word of God in the life of a believer. Ignorance of the word simply means we have lost the battle against the enemy. The level of victory we have is directly proportional to how much of the word we know. Any Christian who hardly finds time to study the word of God is in danger of being defeated by the enemy.  We find time to do relevant things such as eating, working, hanging out with friends, etc. If a professing Christian finds time for other things but does not find time to study the Bible, then you can tell that he does not count the word of God among the relevant things in his life.

Hosea 4:6 “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.”

BENEFITS OF STUDYING THE SCRIPTURE

• • The word of God reveals the will of God for our lives and guides us in the path of His will in any situation. When we study the word, we receive insight and revelation from the Holy Spirit. This only happens when we earnestly seek to know God’s word. Psalms119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” The word of God lights the way ahead of us so we can see clearly see which way to go. Through every season of our lives, we can be confident that God is always leading us through His Word.

• • Studying the scriptures ensures continuous fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Just like spending quality time with a friend will strengthen your friendship, so also intimacy with the word builds up our relationship with the Holy Spirit. 1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

• • The word shows us who to focus on. The Bible points us to Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. As we study Christ, we begin to learn about our new nature, our new self which is hidden in Christ. Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

• • Spending time in the word will teach us what to say and how to tame our tongue.  The words we speak can shape, create or destroy our lives. Studying the word will teach us how to use our words wisely and curate them to build up and edify our lives and that of others.

James 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridled not his tongue, but deceived  his own heart, this man religion is vain.”

• • It builds you up to spiritual maturity. The same way we grow naturally by feeding on good food, we also grow spiritually by also feeding on the good food of the word of God. If you don’t feed your body the right foods, you deny it essential nutrients for healthy growth and it will affect your body and even make you vulnerable to diseases. This is true for your spiritual life too. If we feed on junk it will cause us to have real problems spiritually and our growth will be affected, leaving us open and vulnerable to spiritual diseases. Lack of the knowledge of Christ who is the word brings about  deficiency of the truth in us and it will affect our spiritual growth. This is why some Christians who claim to have been saved for many years still act out like baby Christians controlled by their emotions and their flesh. They fail to understand much about who Jesus is and the realities of our new life in Christ.  The new life of Christ does not manifest in their lives to any recognizable extent. Their light is so small and cannot give much light to anyone in this world that is enveloped in darkness.

Acts 20:32 “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

The need to study God’s word cannot be overemphasized. We just reviewed a few of the benefits in this post. There are several other benefits. Let us make studying the word a priority. As we embark on this, may our eyes of understanding continue to be opened to know Jesus more and more.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of Fountain Of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.