“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
Many years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom and decided to enroll in a Bible Study at my church. To be quite honest, I was doing it more for the interaction with adults, than to study God’s Word. Although I’d attended Sunday school my entire life, it was the first time I’d ever enrolled in an adult Bible Study. I’d always been an excellent student, so I remember well the moment I realized that nearly everyone else in the class had much more Biblical knowledge than me. This “excellent student” was at the bottom of the class. That semester, I spent a lot of time listening to my classmates as they shared from their hearts. These amazing Christian friends were so kind and patient with me and helped me develop a real desire to know and understand the Bible; I wanted to have what they had!
One day, I was reading from Matthew chapter 7, and verse 8 really spoke to me: “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” I’d heard a Christian speaker say that she had prayed for God to give her a passion for His Word, and it worked! If she could do it, so could I. I began praying that God would give me a true desire for His Word, and often repeated Matthew 7:8. It was the sincere desire of my heart to know God’s Word, and it didn’t take long for my prayers to be answered. My study time was at night after I’d put my kids to bed. I’d sit at my dining table with my Bible and study materials and go to work. As God softened my heart to His Word, I started growing in both head and heart knowledge. It wasn’t long before I had to set a timer to make myself go to bed. I was learning so much and loving it!
Many more studies have followed that first one, and I still attend a weekly Bible study. My ritual has changed over the years, and my quiet time is in the morning now. One of the miracles of the Bible is that it’s lessons are ever-changing as we read them at certain times and during different seasons of life. No matter how many stories or facts we can recall, we’ll never be able to know everything that God has planted in this amazing book we call the Holy Bible. I’m so very thankful that God has given us this blueprint for life, and it’s always available to us.
Susan Easttom, Director of Family Ministries
