“Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.” (2 Timothy 2:15 The Living Bible)
At our local church we have three optional times that members and friend can choose from to attend Bible Study. We can attend a class that coincides with your availability. There are evening classes on Wednesday and Thursday, and there is a 11:45 a.m. class on Friday mornings. In every class, we study (1) what the word says, (2) what the word means, and (3) what the word means to me. Soon, we will introduce an additional study that will be scheduled on Tuesday evenings; an initiative introduced by our incoming pastor. This Tuesday class will be called, “The Third Phase” and it will focus on how the word studied in the other classes the prior week has relevance in our everyday lives. This will be ideal for new Christians and believers who are still looking for how to apply biblical teachings in the present times. This is not a promotional or a recruitment piece, but rather it is intended to communicate that if you want to be a part of a bible study, see what your church has to offer. Then invest the time required to adhere to the scripture found above in 2 Timothy. The benefits will be multiple and even perpetual as you touch the lives of others.
Let me get back to the classes at our church. They are called “Victory Class.” Each session is targeted to last one hour, but they usually go longer. The faithful participants don’t mind. Without complaining, the participants will tell you that the time spent in class is not the extent of the time they have to devote to studying each week. Think of the prep time. They read the passage. They meditate on it. They answer the questions on the worksheet that the pastor sends them in advance for each week. They look up places, biographies, historical facts and actually use the cross-reference passages in their study bibles. They see the value of referring to different versions of the bible and note the differences between thought-for-thought translations and word-for-word translations. They progressively, persistently develop their bible study skills as they spend more than a few hours prepping for each week’s class. This week we will have completed a verse-by-verse study of The Gospel According to Mark. We started this study in September 2024, and we are just completing it this month, August 2025. The faithful students’ efforts should be applauded! Just think, if we expressed the time spent studying and attending class in terms of a college academic year, that would surpass at least three trimesters! If it was some of the eight-week classes that I taught as a professor, it would be like taking six courses, each worth three credits. But the eleven months, well, that time set aside to study and attend class, it was well worth it. The evidence is seen in the transformed lives of the participants who are striving continuously for the target that my mother simply called “Better.!’
I hope this meditation was not meaningless, but that it inspired you to take advantage of bible study classes at your church. Have a fantastic Friday! Be blessed!
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2 The Living Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King