One of the greatest obstacles to understanding and applying Scripture is taking those Scriptures out of their context and applying an unintended meaning to them.  Unfortunately, we Christians do that too often.  With this week’s posts I want to highlight a few of the more popular verses to take out of context, explain what their true meaning is, then suggest ways we can apply those verses accurately to our lives.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15

The Bible requires that we be “workers” who “handle” the word of truth “rightly.”  Understanding Scripture often requires intentional thought and insight.  The Bible is not a frivolous book; it is the revealed mind of God and as such deserves careful attention.   Just as mining for precious metals and costly jewels requires hard work, so also mining the truths of the Bible requires us to dig deeply into its meaning. The rewards of Bible mining, however, far more outweigh the results of natural mining.

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. – Psalm 119:72

I hope these few blog posts this coming week will challenge your conventional thinking, if that conventional thinking is wrong.  I hope they spur you on to serious Bible study, and I hope they cause you to think twice before you accept anyone’s explanation and application of Scripture.

Come back this week, read, and feel free to interact.