Learning to Cut Straight

When reading the Bible, prior knowledge, commentaries, and personal notes can be an obstacle to learning.  We can easily gloss over basic observations which have obscured by our familiarity with a passage.  People (myself included) can limit the observations, interpretations, and applications of scripture to our prior understanding instead of considering the text as if we have never read it before.

I am convinced the most important step in studying the Bible may be the most simple one:  the step of observation, gleaning facts from the scripture.  Just like a detective meticulously inspects a crime scene, we must leave the passage undisturbed by our personal bias or experience.  We must not allow a sermon we heard years ago (true and meaningful as it was) to derail thorough observation today. We should never assume we already know all God intends to reveal to us, no matter how much knowledge we possess.  God's Word is like a fire, like a hammer that breaks rock in pieces.  It can burn within us like the disciples Jesus taught on the road to Emmaus, and it can pulverise our hard hearts like the convicted people who earnestly said in light of their sin, "What shall we do?"

No matter how much we study the Bible, one error all can fall into is to insert ourselves into the text whilst observing it.  If we place ourselves into the text in the observation phase, our interpretation will be skewed and fall short of the meaning of the passage.  Understand the Bible is divinely inspired and written by human authors in various formats such as historical narrative, poetry, prophecy, instructive letters, and parables.  The Bible is God's Word to us, yet it was given to others before us.  We must consider the context.  On our quest for divine truth, the path, process, and destination are all important.  In physics class it was impressed upon me the correct process was of greater importance than the "right" answer.  Being able to explain why we have arrived at a conclusion and being able to replicate it is superior to copy the right answer without showing your work.

I encourage you, brothers and sisters in Christ, be willing to take time to cultivate the skill of solid Bible study with interpretation and personal application.  Paul's exhortation in 2 Timothy 2:15 is fitting for every child of God to apply personally: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  The word for "dividing" means to "cut straight, to dissect correctly."  Having worked in a trade with my hands for over a decade, I can affirm learning to cut straight is a skill developed by practice.  Just because a perfectly straight line is marked on a sheet of stainless steel does not mean a person can cut perfectly on that line.  Manual dexterity and strength is important to complete the job.  Using the right tool is only part of the process, for we need the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.  Knowing what you believe is good, but can you explain the basis of your belief and corresponding actions from scripture?  Understanding how we arrived at a particular destination will help us navigate even difficult passages in the future.