How Well Do You Know Your Bible?

How well do you know your bible? Do you know your books of the bible? Can you recite from memory 10 verses? Can you tell me where in the bible to find passages that deal with the effects of sin? It is disturbing to know that according a recent Gallup survey, less than half of the born-again community can list five of the Ten Commandments. Only three out of five Christians can recall the names of the first four books of the New Testament. Only half of the Christians polled could correctly identify the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

When I first read this survey I was saddened. We supposedly live in the most educated era of human history. Our abilities in the area of space exploration, nano- technology, and engineering are advancing at rates that are truly mind boggling. We have gained the ability to manipulate DNA, expand our life expectancy, and can shoot down satellites traveling 17000 miles an hour from a ship in the Pacific Ocean. Yet the most important book ever given to us as Christians goes unread for the majority of our day. The Bible to a Christian is your road map. It establishes for you what God expects from you, and it also establishes how God relates to the Christian. The wisdom found within the Bible can lead even those who are unbelievers to make wise choices in their lives. Who can argue the wisdom of Solomon?

So what can you do? As a family we must carve out time in our day to devote solely to the study of God's word. You don't need bible commentaries, bible dictionaries, or Greek word studies to begin. You can begin simply by challenging your children to a good old bible drill, memorize a verse of scripture together as a family and recite it together around the dinner table, find a good catechism and use it as a family devotion. I have found that within my family the best time to talk about the Bible is around the dinner table. It always makes for some interesting discussion, and their is an endless number of topics to draw from.

It is imperative that we learn God's word. It is the most common way for Him to speak to our hearts and it is how He trains us in righteousness (see 2 Timothy 3:16). Imagine what our world would be like if we spent as much time studying God's word as we do studying other subjects.