Inductive Bible Study (HT: Ajith Fernando)

I continue to praise God for the ministry of Ajith Fernando and his family! Truly, he is a mighty man of a God; a churchman in the truest sense of the word. And every time I receive a prayer request / update / praise report from him, I am blessed.

Like the current one he sent with an “aside” on the importance of inductive Bible study. Oh, friends! This little three-page article is SO worth the read and I would be happy to send it to you if you simply email me and request it. (Don’t forget! I will NEVER give your email address or contact information to ANYONE. This is just between you, me, and the Excel spreadsheet I type into as I hold and nurse Eleanor on her boppy—as I am doing at this very moment.)

I want to particularly encourage you to request and read this article if you’ve had a hard time digging deep into God’s Word lately. It is SO helpful and encouraging, and convicting too.

Let me tempt you with just a snippet:

“INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY
by Ajith Fernando

I was once teaching a week-long course to some first generation Christians active in Christian ministry on how to study the Bible and use it in ministry. I found that many of my students were latching on to an inspiring thought from the passages we were studying, forgetting the context in which that thought appears and ultimately missing out on the message of the passage …

One of the students in this class asked me how one can read the difficult passages in the prophets without giving up out of boredom. As I thought about it, I realised that these passages are boring to some because there aren’t many of the ‘inspiring’ thoughts in those passages which grab their attention and they latch on to. Instead, what we have is a message from God, burning in the prophet’s mind, which he wants to communicate to his audience. If we look for that message, we will find many very helpful insights into the mind of God …

That is the message we must labour to discover.

The best way I know of getting at the main thrust of a passage and gleaning things we would otherwise miss is inductive Bible study … I can describe inductive study using two statements:

– Sitting with the attitude of a child: ‘I want to learn what God, my Father, has caused to be written in this passage to make me strong and grow.’

– Looking with the skill of a detective—I do not want to miss any evidence in my search for what this passage really says, what it means, implies and tells me regarding my behaviour.

Usually inductive Bible study is divided into three steps: Observation, interpretation and application.

One of the many benefits of inductive study is that you begin to relish Bible study …

Discovering biblical truth does not only give the short term thrill that the solving of a mystery gives—it is gives life, it feeds the eternal joy that God has given us, it helps us to be molded to what we were made to be—individuals conformed to the image of Christ. When we are what we were made to be, we have the shalom that God gives—his peace, his wholeness and his health. The basic thirst of life is gone as we drink of the living water. The basic hunger of life is gone as we taste and see that the Lord is good and feed on the Bread of life.”

Amen & Amen!

This is one of the reasons why I was so happy that women’s study started back up at our church this fall. Hooray for systematically studying Scripture! And thank God for the grace and freedom to do so. (A little shout-out to our troops and chaplains (and their families!) there and a reminder to please keep them all in your prayers.)

Off into our day now–

All the best,
Tara B.