"As your words came to me I drank them in, and they filled my heart with joy and happiness because I belong to you..." Jeremiah 15:16, NET

When was the last time you received a personal note from a loved one?  Maybe it came through the mail, maybe it was attached to a gift, or maybe it was hand delivered on a special occasion.  Depending on the circumstance or the author, those notes can carry a lot of meaning.  Earlier this week, I showed something to our youth Bible study group:  a handwritten note that I received from my kiddos two Father's Days ago, a note so special that I use it for a bookmark in my Bible.  I keep it as a reminder of my kids' for me and as motivation to remain deeply connected with them.  But could you imagine if I decided to ignore that note and just leave it unopened on my night stand two Father's Days ago?  What if I had assumed it was for someone else and passed right on by?  Tragic, right?  It would not only have pained the heart of my precious kids who wrote it, but I would have completely missed out on the blessing of receiving it.  Maybe it sounds like an implausible scenario, but I wonder if we end up doing the implausible with God's Word -- leaving it unopened on our nightstand, or reading it with a sense of distance as if it's intended for someone else but not me.  If we knew that the Bible was written for us personally, wouldn't we want to keep it close? My guess is that we would go back to it again and again as a reminder of His love for us and as a way to stay deeply connected with Him.  Let me share with you a simple way to read the Bible not like mail addressed to someone else but like a letter from God to us personally.

It's a simple process that I partially introduced in last week's sermon and have recently been able to share in more depth with our middle school Sabbath School class and also our youth Bible study group.  I've adapted it from a curriculum I went through a few years ago with group of young professionals and older adults entitled Deep Calling by Tara Vincross.  All this to say that, while it's definitely not the ONLY approach to a relational study of God's Word, I've found it to be an impactful one for myself and for many others no matter their age or experience, whether studying individually or in groups.  It boils down to prayerfully opening to a Bible verse or passage and looking for the following:

1. Summary

2. Standouts

3. Connections

4. Invitations

SUMMARY

Description:  Before trying to discern the deeper meaning of the focus passage, first summarize the basic facts of the focus passage -- the who, what, where, when, etc.  

Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Ps. 119:34

In the longest chapter of all the Bible (176 verses!), David expresses his heartfelt appreciation and adoration for God's Word again and again.  Woven throughout this praise song for God's instruction is a plea for understanding.  David is not just grateful that God communicates.  He wants to understand it because he wants to live by it.  It's a simple cause-and-effect dynamic that he wants to enact in his life:  

understanding God's Word precedes keeping God's Word, really observing it, living by it, applying it.

It's hard to live "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4) when we don't feel like have a basic grasp of what those words say.  In Nehemiah's day, this is what motivated a group of Levites to give "the sense" of God's law to help post-exile Israelites regain an obedient walk with God:

So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.  Nehemiah 8:8, NKJV

Have you ever read a passage of Scripture once through and felt like you were reading a Hallmark card or a literary classic?  Sounded good, but not quite understood? This first step in this relational Bible study process is just a prompt to slow down and pay attention to the details, piecing together what's going on in the passage at a basic level.  

STANDOUTS

Description:  Read the passage again looking for words or phrases that stand out or catch your attention.

Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. Psalm 119:18, NKJV 

When we read God's Word and pay attention to the details, things will grab our attention.  We may not know why those things stand out exactly, but when we can ask God to be the One to open our eyes to "wondrous things" He wants us to see, we can trust that there's a divine purpose behind the things that fill us with wonder or cause us to wonder/be curious when we read about them.  David is familiar with God's law, but here he's praying to see the law in an unfamiliar way.  When we approach God's Word, we can ask for eyes to be opened to things that cause us not only to OOH & AAH but also to things that cause us to HMM or ask HUH?

At this stage of the Bible study process, my prayer conversation with God sounds like, "Ok God, what do you want me to see in this passage?  Is there something you really want me to hear or pay closer attention to?"  At times, it's a detail we never noticed before, or a repeated word that seems emphatic.  Other times, it may feel like the standout phrase is random or irrelevant.  Whatever the case, this part of the study process just gives God permission to narrow our focus on what He might want us to dig deeper into in the last two phases.

CONNECTIONS 

Description:  Read the passage yet again (particularly those standout words/phrases from the previous reading) and ask God:  "How does this connect with my life? with things I'm going through right now?"

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12, NKJV

There is a powerful, pointed experience awaiting us when we read God's Word when we let its light pierce through to the thoughts and motives of our heart.  

When the Word actually hits home like this and touches on aspects of our present experience, it takes on a living dynamic.  

These are words not just for people  back then, but for me and my own heart issues right now.  Notice how Paul emphasizes the present-tense relevance of the Bible in our lives:

Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.  Romans 15:4, NLT

This part of the study process allows me to see myself in the story, to connect the dots between what is being described in Scripture and what I'm experiencing today.  It opens the door for deeper reflection not just about general answers in God's Word but about personal application for my life today.

INVITATIONS

Description:  In light of what God has shown you in the previous steps, now ask Him:  "What are You inviting me to do or experience?"

Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Hear, and your soul shall live... Isaiah 55:3a, NKJV

When we turn our ears heavenward to hear God speak to us in Scripture, the intended end is that we come to Him personally.  And by taking Him up on this personal invitation, we experience life to the full.  

Hearing God's Word is not just for information.  It's an invitation -- an invitation to know Him more, trust Him more, live the abundant life more.

 After summarizing the basic sense of a passage and discovering what stands out and how it connects to our personal situation, we can listen for what God may be calling us to do in response to His Word.  It's all too easy to approach the Bible for insights and truisms.  But God doesn't want us to walk away with a mere, "Oh that was a nice thought."  He wants us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (Js. 1:22-23) because in so doing, we build our lives on solid rock rather than shifting sand (Mt. 7:24-27).  When asking God this question, give Him permission to be direct.  Don't just settle for generalized principles that are for everyone.  Expect God to give you a personal invitation for today, for me right now.  Remember, through this process we're not opening someone else's mail.  We get to read God's note to us personally.

Friends, it's my prayer that each of us would be able to share a testimony like Jeremiah shared in Jeremiah 15:16.  Let's expect God's Word to come to us personally.  As we daily put ourselves in position to drink in His Word, we will find it to be the joy and rejoicing of our hearts.

PS -- If you've read this far, go ahead and try this relational study process out in your personal solitude time or even with a small group or in family worship.  Last request:  If/when you do, please comment below to share what you've studied and how it impacted you. :)