Preserve my life according to Your Word.
Psalm 119:37 NIV
Understand these facts: (1) Bible study can be dangerous if you merely study it without applying it. ?Knowledge puffs up? (1 Co 8:1 NIV). This Greek word ?puffs? contains the idea of being inflated, like a hot-air balloon. Ouch! Satan knew the Scriptures so well that he could quote them to Jesus in the wilderness temptation. And what is Satan?s chief quality? Pride! It got him kicked out of heaven. Studying the Scriptures should keep you humble, dependent on God, and give you the right approach to life. (2) Knowledge must lead to action. God doesn?t suggest things. He doesn?t say, ?Please, won?t you consider doing this?? or "It would be nice if you did this". Jesus said, ?Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock? (Mt 7:24 NIV). When the storms of life came, the wise man?s life stood firm while the foolish man?s ? the one who didn?t practice what he knew ? came crashing down. (3) Knowledge increases your responsibility. In the Spider-man movie Uncle Ben said to Spider-man ‘With great power comes great responsibility" and the same is true of the Bible. If you?re serious about studying your Bible, you?ll have greater knowledge and you’re then expected to put that into practice. ?Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn?t do it, sins? (Jas 4:17 NIV). So, if you?re not planning on applying the lessons you receive from your Bible study, you?d be better not to study it at all. You?re just heaping up more judgment for yourself!
