I have learned that, no matter how mindfully I approach times of individual Bible study, there are all too many times when my mind wanders and the words lie flat on the page—anything but nourishing. I am most fed when I “hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” Scripture in community.
A group Bible study is not a test in which there are clearly right and wrong answers, where the “teacher” knows best or at least has the answer book. As we emerge from a year-long commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, it’s good to be reminded of how important God’s Word was to Martin Luther—so important that everyone should be able not only to read it, but to engage with its life-giving, life-changing power.
This message is an excerpt from “Studying scripture” by Karen G. Bockelman in the January/February 2018 issue of Gather magazine. Please pray for the Women of the ELCA executive board which begins its meeting today in Chicago.
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