On my desktop computer I have a file titled Biblical Books. In that file is another file titled Amos, a biblical book I am currently studying. In my Amos file I have individual files for each chapter in the book of Amos, so Amos 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

I have additional files titled Background Stories of the Nations (that are mentioned in Amos 1 & 2). Another file is simply titled Exile, wherein I have placed a few documents I created while exploring the notion of Israel’s Assyrian exile.

Another file is titled Key Words in Amos; another: Mourning in Amos; another file, titled Oracles Against the Nations currently contains 10 separate documents wherein I have collected various oracles against nations (scattered throughout Scripture and also found in Amos) like Oracles About/Against: Ammon, Aram, Edom, Israel, Judah, Moab, the Philistines, and Tyre & Sidon. For future learning purposes I even created a table comparing/contrasting in a side-by-side format what was said about each of these nations in Amos. One doc in this file is a collection of Scripture texts that insist that God Does Not Show Partiality! Other additional files include: Slavery in Amos, Theodicy in Amos, and Time/Chronology in Amos.

Then there are individual documents that I have yet to place in the larger Amos files. Documents like Characterization of God in Amos, Hope in Amos, Questions Asked in Amos, Quoting Others in Amos, Social Justice in Amos, Woe Oracles in Amos, etc.

All in all, my larger Amos file is becoming robust. In our computerized world, creating documents is easy! Why Amos? Why not! (In the above I’m offering hints regarding how to study the Bible.)

How can we study the Bible? The simple answer is prayerfully and carefully, with an interest in doing what God guides us to do! But let’s explore Bible study more!

Questions

When you open the Bible do you just casually read it or do you study it?

Do you take notes of some kind when you study the Bible? If not, why not?

Have you ever tried journaling while you read the Bible?

What in the Bible interests you? Perhaps even grips you?

What bothers you in Scripture? Are you in a position where you can home in on these things or would it be better for you to wait until you are a stronger Christian?

Bible study often begins with a few minutes taken here and there; then it becomes a few minutes each day; then longer periods of time are taken each day, until it becomes something you simply cannot live without! But if you slip up, start again!

I learned to read when I was 4 years old and cannot recall when I didn’t know how to read so I thought that beginning a devotional life would be a walk in the park for me. But it was not!

I learned the ideas listed below slowly and painfully! I was not a theologian or a pastor when I began doing these things; I was a locksmith! Now I am a retired pastor, but that came about when I was already in my forties.

If you choose to read later in the day skip the early steps.

First, I recommend you get out of bed and read somewhere where you won’t be frequently interrupted, if possible. I recommend using a table or desk, but some prefer other forms of usefulness or comfort. Use technology, if possible, to take notes.

Second, before reading, splash some cold water in your face to make yourself more alert; then drink some (warm/hot?) water to get your body and brain hydrated.

Third, pray, asking God to enlighten you as you study. God will give you success, but it will probably take time! Why? Because God is interested in shaping your life through what you read, while teaching you how to study, and not simply giving you exciting content. Yes, there will be exciting discoveries, but they come as your life and study skills grow.

Fourth, take notes! List some of your questions! Seek for answers to those questions as you read. Prepare yourself to take the long road! Become a lifelong learner!

Fifth, discipline yourself to think about what you read as your day unfolds. Not every daily task demands our full attention, which offers us bursts of time wherein we can think about what we read. If done regularly, you will be surprised at what God will teach you during such moments!

Sixth, how does God want to shape your life with what He is teaching you? What does He want you to do?

Seventh, imagine your way into the world of the text. What additional insights come to mind?

Lastly, keep reading! Keep asking questions and taking notes! Don’t let those free moments slip away wherein you could be thinking about what you read.

Is it possible for you to join a small group where you could study the Bible with others? Age is not usually the issue; studying with older and younger people is equally enjoyable!

John 7:16-17 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.

Though study skills of varying kinds can be helpful, in the above passage Jesus laid out the basics. Resolving to do what God wants you to do is the primary key to learning.

That said, I have been blessed by books that offer Bible study methodologies of differing kinds. The most accessible is Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God’s Word. 12 different methods for studying the Bible are laid out, step by step in this book.

Another is The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter. Alter focuses on studying stories in the Bible and his book is a classic when thinking about biblical stories. The chapter on repetition alone can change one’s ideas about why there is so much repetition in the OT. (If money is not a problem, consider Shimon bar Efrat’s book Narrative Art in the Bible; it too is excellent.)

A third, that may open your eyes to a new concept for Bible study, is titled Perspective Criticism by Gary Yamasaki. This book details how point of view can be seen and studied in Scripture. Point of view in this case refers to sight as a subjective opinion. Movies are often used to illustrate this book’s ideas.

In the OT, for example, the Hebrew phrases “in the eyes of” and “in front of” and “good in the eyes of” reflect someone’s thought and judgment. In other words, they express opinion. Not everyone in the Bible perceives factual, objective reality in the same way! See Genesis 29:20, for example, where Jacob is said to have worked another 7 years for his wife Rachel, but those years seemed like just a few days to him! Becoming acquainted with how to study point of view is a fresher take on Bible study.

These three books are all inexpensive and readily available, books that offer ideas and teach methodologies not doctrine! They teach us how to study the Bible. If you chose to read any of these three books, take notes regarding how to study the Bible.

Why not turn Warren’s book, for example, into fill-in-the-blanks computerized documents, which you can use repeatedly via copy and paste or save as a template– docs which you can also enlarge or shrink at will? All these books offer methods that are illustrated, but you want the how-to-methods, not the illustrations per se, so create notes detailing what you find helpful. Then put these new ideas to work for you!

For questions, see above.