Scripture Reading:

Luke 24:45 Then He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures.

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

 

GRASPING THE MAIN THEME

In studying the Bible, the first thing we have to do is to find the main subject. Then we can go into the details. We must first have a grasp of the main subject of a portion of the Word, and then we must find out the various details. The details are supplementary, while the skeleton is the main subject. For example, Leviticus speaks of many kinds of offerings. It is of little use to merely understand the facts concerning the various offer-ings. We must see how the work of Christ satisfies God and how He satisfies the believ-ers. In this way, we can relate all the offerings to God’s pleasure in Christ and the saints’ enjoyment of Christ. For example, the sin offering satisfies God, and Christ’s death satis-fies both God and the believers.

FINDING OUT THE LINES

One must also find the proper lines in God’s Word before he can have God’s revela-tion and light. If our daily reading of the Scripture in the morning and evening is a rou-tine work, we will not receive much benefit from it. However, there are times in our reading and our time of fellowship when we are touched and overwhelmed by a certain truth. If we pay attention to the crucial truths in the Bible, we will readily receive God’s revelations.

FORGETTING WHAT ONE READS

When we come to the Word, we should read through it consistently without trying to do anything more with it. It is even better if we would forget what we have read. Lat-er, at an unexpected time, God will spontaneously reveal to us what we have read in the way that He sees fit. It is useless for us to strenuously try to understand the Word. Con-cordance-like expositions are unprofitable; we need divine exposition.

VIEWING FROM THE BROAD ANGLE

In studying the Word, one must view things from a broad angle, yet concentrate his study on the detailed points. In studying the Word, we must first find the main highway and deal with the side streets afterward. This does not mean that the small points are not important; it means that we are putting them aside until later.

TAKING PRACTICAL STEPS

The Bible says that the Lord went into Jerusalem on a colt. If we waste our time studying such things as the color of the colt, the age of it, etc., we are being caught up with inconsequential things. Paul had a thorn. If we waste our time studying what kind of thorn it was or arguing if it was an eye disease or malaria, we are just studying the map and not actually embarking on the journey. If a man spends all of his time reading a map instead of walking, he is wasting time and energy, and his work is futile. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Set Two, Volume 41, Section Two, pp. 49-51)