If a Christian
does not refer to the Holy Scripture then his prayer, which is not united with the word of God, then it is just a monologue, which will not rise above the
ceiling. Prayer must be combined with the Holy Scripture readings so that it
can become a real dialogue between a person and the Lord. Then we will get
the answers we need through
the God’s words that we read in the Scripture.
It is said in
the Scripture: “Man does not live by bread only, but by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3). We
should remember that a person needs not only physical or material food, but
spiritual food as well. The word of God is the very food that our inner
spiritual self needs. If we do not feed our physical self for several days, if
we do not care for ourselves, then it will lead to exhaustion and dystrophy. However,
spiritual self also can be in the state of dystrophy, if one does not read the
Holy Scripture for a long time. And then people wonder why their faith falters. The source of faith is known: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God” (Romans 10:17). This is why every person should drink from
this source.
The first psalm
begins with the following words: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the
seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night” (Psalms 1:1-2). Here we read about three
conditions of a person’s body: it does not walk, does not stand and does not
sit. Then it is said that a faithful person lives by the law of God day and
night. It means that the Law of God tells us, with whom we should not walk
together, with whom we should not stand together and with whom we should not
sit together. The commandments are in the word of God. While reading the Holy
Scripture, we put our conscience into the commandments of God. King David said:
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105).
If we do not put our conscience into the word of God, then we begin to walk in
darkness.
Apostle Paul
wrote in his admonition to young bishop Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth;
but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity,
in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine” (Timothy 4:12-13). Moses, who had seen God, said when
he instructed Joshua: “This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua
1:8).
So how should one study
the Holy Scripture properly? I think we should begin with Gospel and
Epistle daily readings, which are stated in every church calendar. Today
everyone has such a calendar at home. There was a tradition earlier that after
a person has read the morning prayers, he opened the calendar and looked there
which excerpts from Gospel and Epistle were to be read on that day. A person
read those texts, and they served him as an edification for the day. If you
want to study the Holy Scripture more thoroughly, then fast is the best time
for this.
It is necessary
to have a Bible at home. You should choose a book for you that will be suitable
for your eyes and that will be comfortable for you to hold in hands. You should
also have a bookmark for this Book.
Of course, it
is advisable to begin with the New Testament. If a person attends church
regularly, then he needs to read the whole Bible at least once. What is
more, if a person uses the time of fast for studying the Holy Scripture, this
will bring him God’s blessing.
It has long
been noted that no matter how many times a person reads the same biblical text,
he understands it differently in different periods of his life. It is just like
a precious stone: when you turn it, it shines with different colors. The word
of God, no matter how many times we refer to it, will open new
horizons of knowledge of God.
St. Ambrose of
Optina said that it is better for the newcomers to begin to examine the New
Testament with the help of the interpretations by St. Theophilactus the
Bulgarian and refer to them if something is unclear. It is difficult to read
the commentary itself without the biblical text, because it can serve as a reference book. A person should read commentaries when he comes across a
biblical episode, which is unclear or just difficult to understand.
How can we
teach our children to read the Holy Scripture? I think, parents should read the
scripture together with their children. In Bible it is stated several times
that it is the father who has to teach his children the Law of God. However, it
is not said that children must learn. It means that although they do not want
to learn, parents should teach them and read Bible together with them.
By Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev
Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/89806.html
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