Study to shew thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

II Timothy 2:15, KJV

 

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22, NIV

 

Imagine having a dream to be an engineer. You have seen the beautiful masterpieces of architecture, from bridges to skyscrapers, and were inspired to make this your life's pursuit. You have taken all the classes. You have passed all the tests. You have received your degree. You are an engineer. What now? Will you try and seek a profession that allows you to pursue your dreams and make a handsome living at the same time? Or will you settle for getting a job washing dishes or flipping burgers at the first place that has a "Help Wanted" sign?

 

Anyone that was serious about becoming an engineer in the first place will want to further their studies and apply what they have learned. They will want to get actual on the job training that will get them closer to building the bridges and skyscrapers that they had envisioned before they even began. In a like manner, once having started to pursue the wisdom that comes from God's holy Word, we must not be satisfied with having merely read through the New Testament. Now that we have come in contact with God's Word, be it our first time or something that we have done on several occasions in the past, we must now do something about our new found knowledge.

 

The challenge to read through the New Testament in thirty days was a big one. It required a sacrifice of time that you could have spent on other things. It required the forming of a new habit for some, a habit that may have been hard fought and hard won. Now what will you do? Will you check it off of your list of minor accomplishments and move on to something else, or will you further your efforts to make it a major accomplishment?

 

My suggestion is that you build on what you have begun. There are areas that you have read about that need additional exploration. You may have come across instructions concerning salvation, worship, and everyday living that you did not fully understand. Now is the time to do something about it. You have the good habit. You have the momentum. Now do something that is important!

 

Here is one suggestion. Take the next 90 days to begin your masterpiece of service for the Lord. There are questions of right and wrong that you may still have. There may be a question raised about your own salvation that came about from your exposure to the New Testament. You may have serious curiosity on a number of topics that heretofore you may have thought to be the exclusive territory of Bible scholars, pastors or priests.  

 

Now you have an opportunity to no longer be at the mercy of these so-called experts and find the truth for yourself. You would hate to hear at the Judgment that you had somehow fallen short. You might say something along the lines of "But this is what my preacher told me to do" only to hear a reply from God along the lines of, "I am sorry, but he didn't make it either". We cannot take that risk for something so important. We must cease from differing our service to God to the whims of people whom we think are smart in the Bible. Your eternity and the eternity of your loved ones is too important to place in the hands of religious "quacks" not matter how impressive they may seem.

 

So what will you do now? Again, here is a method for your consideration. Determine the most important things that you would like to finally know the truth about. These important things will be subjects such as salvation, specific sin, specific virtues, the worship, etc. Get yourself a notebook and divide it into a separate section for each area you want to know more about. Then, beginning with Matthew, take 3 chapters a day to really study. Every time you come across something pertinent to your study, write it down. Then when 90 days are completed, you will have written down for yourself every Scripture that addresses your area of interest.

 

I would recommend that you for sure include the topic of "what saves us", but I would include other topics as well. Maybe you have always wondered about what constitutes a specific sin. Make this a topic. Perhaps you would like to study on the church. Questions like, "How do I become a member", or "how many churches are there" or "can I customize a church as I see fit" are excellent starters. I would have several topics of interest but would likely limit the number to three or four so that the study does not become too unwieldy and therefore unfruitful because you bit off more that you could chew. When you are done, you will likely have more information on the questions you wanted God's answers to than most of the "experts" that you previously leaned on for knowledge.

 

Never forget: We are going to Heaven! But we can only do so if we do God's things in God's way. You have an excellent foundation! Now, build your masterpiece of service! The 90 day study begins tomorrow!