We are so excited to announce the release of our new Bible study, Open Your Bible! This study has been on our hearts for a long time, and we are so thankful God brought us together with Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams to bring you a study to help you get in His Word. We love how beautiful the study is and how it is such a great tool to help women study Scripture for themselves. We can’t wait to see how God uses it! Here’s an excerpt:
Approach Truth Regularly
My sister just had a new baby.
My adorable nephew Leo needs to be fed every 4 hours, and his mama doesn’t mind one bit. Food is as crucial as air to his brand-new, tiny, and vulnerable body. When he’s been separated from her for more than a few hours, he lets us know with his gummy, squeaky newborn cry. Mama’s milk is important, and it’s urgent.
OPEN YOUR BIBLE and read Psalm 1. (Goodness, I love this Psalm!)
In what does the “blessed” person delight? How often does he meditate on God’s law?
In the very next verse, David describes this righteous person as a tree planted by streams of water. Not a horse who visits the stream from time to time, not a camel who visits the water as needed, but a rooted tree which does not leave its lifesource. The tree and the stream are in relationship with one another.
Like milk to a newborn baby, the stream is important to the tree. But if we could see to the tree’s roots, we’d see the relationship is more than important—it’s urgent. It’s non-negotiable. If the tree’s connection to water is lost, so is its life.
It’s the same with us. We can’t approach God’s Word only occasionally, expecting our lives not to wither. God designed us to need Him, to be in ongoing relationship with Him as our only lifesource. And like the tree in Psalm 1, we bear fruit in season. The good stuff comes in good time—in God’s time.
I want to be that tree. I want you to be that tree. I want our roots to be so saturated in the truth of God’s Word—not just acknowledging its existence but digging into it, drawing life from it—that our lives bear fruit even on the hardest of days.
So, let’s get practical. Many of us, myself included, live in constant tension between “How can I conveniently squeeze Bible-time into my busy schedule?” and “How can my busy schedule reflect the importance of God’s Word in my life?” Do you struggle here, too?
Look again at verse 3 of Psalm 1. What is the benefit of being planted by the stream?
Regularly approaching God’s Word begins with space and quiet. Sometimes that’s found in the sweet and sacred morning hours before the rest of the world wakes. Sometimes it’s when you arrive early in the school pick-up line or during a lunch hour at work. In situations that may look more convenient than purposeful, there is still relationship—and God promises a life rooted in Him will bear fruit!
Even in the dry season, may our souls remain steeped in the unending goodness and love of our Savior as found in His Word.
Check out a sample chapter and how to order here. Open Your Bible is available in Lifeway Stores and at Lifeway.com/OpenYourBible. Through the month of November, get a free notebook and free shipping! The free notebook is available at Lifeway Stores as well.
