In previous Study Tips articles, I have written a little about the importance of Bible study. Today I want to give you my clear perspective on its importance to our lives.
Let me begin with kale.
I don’t like kale. I know it is good for me but it doesn’t have a flavor I care for, and you really have to chew it a lot! I do like pudding. It is creamy and smooth and just slides down so easy. Do you see the parallel with Bible study? Often we settle for pudding Bible study, no chewing required. But we get the greatest benefit from the kale.
As we get older (for some people that begins about the age of 13), we do fewer things that make us struggle. We settle into patterns. We know our job and maybe learn a few new things here or there, but nothing too challenging. And your brain slowly begins to lose ground.
Now you are able do all the things you do because of really cool cells that wrap themselves around your nerves cells — myelin cells. The more often you use a specific neuron (a nerve cell), the more that myelin wraps itself around the neuron and the easier it is to do the task. The problem is that as we age we tend to limit ourselves to a fairly set number and type of activities, so other parts of the brain go dormant. This is why learning something new may seem really hard — at first.
Bible study is great for keeping your mind young because, if you are challenging yourself, you are laying down new myelin in your brain — which is why you get better at it. It is also partly why I advocate that you do something with what you’ve learned; it creates a new challenge. I write and speak to audiences. Perhaps you are more comfortable with sharing one-on-one or creating videos.
The point is that if you study to just entertain or enlighten yourself, you don’t receive the full blessing that the Lord has built into His word. (see By Beholding)
So this week I encourage you to explore some possible ways of sharing what you are learning through your study. Any kind of sharing: Facebook post, phone call, letter, email, etc. As you give away what you’ve gleaned, you will find that you have more leftover than what you started with.
