While my hubby and I were cycling down a trail, a large group of foreigners flagged us down. We quickly stopped to find out how to help. “Please! Are we close to the waterfall?” they inquired. My heart sank as we talked to them and realized that they had walked miles in the wrong direction. Several wore festive native clothing, and no one had hiking shoes. Beyond that, it was a hot day, and they had no water. Their goal was to admire the glorious waterfall, a highlight of our local national park, but they were not even close and had walked miles out of their way.
The entire group had followed the lead of one man who grasped a small park map. His English was excellent, but he was stubborn and had led this group astray. He refused to believe us when we told him that they needed to turn around. No matter how much we pointed to the map, he ignored us and our directions, refusing to acknowledge his mistake. I felt sad and helpless as he marched the group on instead of turning back. These poor folks continued in the wrong direction. They had worked so hard to admire a glorious view, but I could not imagine that they would ever see the waterfall. This is precisely why, when studying the Bible, we ask what I call “the golden question”: What does this passage say about who God is? After all, He is the glorious destination, and we don’t want to miss Him.
There are many ways to study the Bible and countless resources from which to learn: Bible studies, book studies, devotionals, sermons, podcasts, and more. But if we don’t know how to know and enjoy God directly through the Bible, we will likely waste a lot of time and exert a lot of energy only to miss the One that we seek. He is the glorious destination.
How do we engage with God directly through the Bible?
Well, this is the very purpose of SIMPLY BIBLE studies. SIMPLY BIBLE removes a secondary author or speaker’s voice and provides tools to engage directly with God through the Bible. SIMPLY BIBLE studies provide a guide for our journey to Him. This Back to the Basics blog series has reviewed the fundamental step-by-step format used in the studies. These steps are:
- Observe the passage to see what it says. We slow down to notice things, be curious, and ask questions.
- Interpret the passage. We answer our questions and seek to understand the Bible passage’s meaning. To do so, we use various tools, including defining keywords and examining cross references.
- Identify the main point.
- Apply what we have learned to our daily life.
- Pray.
Those are the basic steps to knowing God through the Bible. In the last blog, I addressed the importance of identifying the main point. The main point provides guardrails for our Bible study, helping us to stay on track and keep a Bible passage in context. Before we discuss steps four (application) and five (prayer), I want to address what I refer to as “the golden question”:
“What does this passage say about God?”
Whenever we slow down, become curious, and ask questions, we do the hard work of observation. But asking, “What does this passage say about God?” provides the secret sauce for reaching our glorious destination: knowing and enjoying God Himself. If you are short on time and can only ask one question, write this one question in the Observe column of your study guide. Then, answer it in your Interpret column.
Why ask the golden question?
Perhaps it seems like a given that if we study the Bible, we will know God Himself. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. We often end up only gleaning Bible knowledge and becoming knowledgeable about God, but we are looking for more than facts about God. We want more than head knowledge, we want heart knowledge—to know and experience His heart, like knowing a friend’s.
For a relationship to grow, ongoing listening and study of the other person are essential. Think of marriage. If you were to ask my husband, “Tell me about Carmen,” I would be sorely disappointed if he began rattling off stats like my dress size, shoe size, or where I was born! Instead, I hope he might share my heart, mind, character, and what he enjoys about me. The same holds true for God.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is why we ask that golden question and strive to ask it daily: What does the Bible passage say about God?
So, let’s get practical. Examine with me the following passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Romans 12: 9-13
What do you notice?
I know what I see—a list of things to do!
- Let love be genuine.
- Abhor what is evil.
- Hold fast to what is good.
- Love one another.
- Outdo one another in showing honor.
- Do not be slothful in zeal.
- Be fervent in spirit.
- Serve the Lord.
- Rejoice in hope.
- Be patient in tribulation.
- Be constant in prayer.
- Contribute to the needs of the saints.
- Seek to show hospitality.
You might be wondering, can we really learn about God from a list of commands about how to live? Let’s keep exploring.
To further observe and interpret the passage, we might ask and answer some detective questions:
WHO? Paul writes to followers of Jesus.
WHEN? 1st century
WHERE? The believers are located in Rome.
WHAT? He writes about what a follower of Jesus should look like and how they are to live now.
WHY? Hmmm. These commands describe precisely how Jesus lived. They represent Jesus’s heart and way of living.
Let’s review the list of Paul’s commands again through this lens of asking why.
Why let love be genuine? God’s love is genuine and never fails. (Romans 5:8)
Why abhor evil? God hates evil. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Why hold fast to what is good? God holds fast to good. He is always good. (Hebrews 13:8)
Why love one another? God loves. (John 3:16)
Why outdo others in showing honor? Jesus outdid us all in honoring us and His Father. (Philippians 2:5-8)
Why not be slothful in zeal? Jesus was zealous. (John 2:17)
Why be fervent in spirit? Jesus was fervent in the Spirit to do His Father’s will. Moreover, he warned the church in Laodicea not to be lukewarm. (Revelation 3:15-16)
Why serve the Lord? Jesus came not to be served but to serve, even giving Himself as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
Why rejoice in hope? Jesus fixed His eyes on hope when suffering. (Hebrews 12:2)
Why be patient in tribulation? Jesus did! He endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)
Why be constant in prayer? Jesus prayed. Even while being nailed to the cross, He interceded for His enemies. His Spirit still intercedes for us. (Romans 8:26)
Why contribute to the needs of the saints? God is our Good Shepherd, who provides so that we shall not be in want. (Psalm 23:1)
Why seek to show hospitality? Jesus welcomes us all: “Come to me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Friend, what do we learn about God from a passage that appears to be a list of commands directed towards us?
Read back through the list and consider how God’s love is genuine, how He hates evil, how He is good, how He loves, how He outdoes everyone in showing honor, how He is zealous and fervent in serving others, how He rejoices in hope, is patient in trials, and constantly prays. God does not ask of us anything that He is not or does not do Himself. Rather, God desires our hearts to mirror His heart. These commands are not a legalistic list of rules for how to be a good Christian. They are a window into God’s heart and a guide about how to be His friend. God is gracious in showing us the way to friendship with Him! He desires that we experience Him and His best life: a life of love, goodness, honor, purpose, hope, and more.
Do you see how “What does this passage say about God?” is the golden question?
Friends, as human creatures, we gravitate toward rules. In some ways, it is easier to follow a rule than surrender a heart, but God desires our hearts. He desires more than legalistic obedience. He longs for us to gravitate toward Him, His heart, His mind, His Spirit, and His glory. Asking the golden question keeps us from missing the glorious view and life-giving water of God and His heart.
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24
Lord God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for how You reveal Yourself and Your heart to us through Your Word that we might know You in all Your glory. Unite our hearts with Yours. Help our hearts desire what Your heart desires so we might live to reflect You and Your glory.
