Study the Bible!

“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45.

Happy new year to you all. We say this each year, but time did go by real quick, didn’t it? And yet I am just thankful to God for giving us another year of life. It’s exciting to think about the wonderful blessings God will allow us in the new year. Also, we can be assured that we are now one year closer to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

You know, when Jesus was arrested and crucified the disciples and His followers fell into complete chaos. They didn’t know what to do. It seemed their meaning in life was gone and they were completely disappointed. When Jesus was resurrected the disciples heard about it and yet they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. It didn’t convince them. Finally Jesus appeared in front of them. And you know what Jesus did? He gave them a Bible study! It was a refresher for them. It was not the first time they were studying the Bible but Jesus had to spend time in explaining to them the Bible.

A similar experience is found in the first part of the chapter as Jesus decided to walk with the two disciples as they were heading towards Emmaus. Verse 27 says, “And beginning at Moses and the all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” It was not like they never heard of it before. They forgot.

I pray that in the new year that we make it a habit of studying the Word of God regularly. One thing I noticed with long time Christians is that they are familiar with the beliefs and teachings of the Bible but when asked in details, they don’t know how to answer them. It’s because we don’t study the Bible regularly. The one time study in the past is not good enough. You cannot rely on the pastor’s sermon on Sabbaths. You have to study the Bible for yourself on a regular basis. The New Year is here, please study the Bible. If the disciples couldn’t remember the Scriptures (especially when they were with Jesus for over 3 years), how can we remember the Words if we don’t study them regularly?