If you seek [wisdom] as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
–Proverbs 2:4–5
If you want to get a grip on God’s Word, you have to listen to the preached Word of God, you have to read the Word of God, and third, you have to study the Word of God.
There is a difference between a tourist and an explorer. A tourist goes to a city, hits the high points, and then moves on. But an explorer takes time to navigate the city and ask questions in order to get the most out of their visit. In the same way, to get the riches and the benefits of reading the Bible, you need to study it.
There are four tools every Christian should have in order to understand the Bible:
- Study Bible. A study Bible not only has the text of God’s Word, but it also has explanatory notes, articles, and charts that will help you understand what you’re reading.
- Concordance. A concordance is an alphabetical listing of every word in the Bible, along with the instances in which each word appears. For example, if you look up love in a concordance, it will list every verse in the Bible that uses the word love. Concordances typically show you what the original Greek or Hebrew word meant as well.
- Bible dictionary. A Bible dictionary is like an encyclopedia in one volume. Let’s say you’re reading about the temple, and you wonder, What did the temple look like in Solomon’s day? You can look up “temple of Jerusalem” in a Bible dictionary and see the different versions throughout history.
- Commentary. As you dig deeper into God’s Word, you may want to buy a commentary on each book you study. But to start out, I recommend getting a commentary on the entire Bible. If you have difficulty with a verse, you can look it up and see what scholars have said about it.
Many years ago, I visited the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. The center had a display case filled with interesting things, but one item that caught my attention was a Bible that had been given to Albert Einstein. On the flyleaf was an inscription: “Straws on the surface flow, but he who would search for pearls must dive below.” It doesn’t matter how smart you are–if you want to discover the riches of God’s Word, you have to dig beneath the surface.
