In the grace and knowledge of God

In the holy place of the Sanctuary there was also a Table of Showbread. Twelve loaves of bread especially baked were to be placed on this table and considered sacred.   

And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always

Exodus 25:30

To many of us, the dining table is the place where family conversation occurs. This is where we catch up and connect with each other over a meal. By God’s provision, the table of showbread was placed in the Sanctuary to remind us that we need Him everyday just like we need to have our meals everyday.

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:35

The Table of Showbread reminds us that we need to spend time in God’s words to be nourished by Him each and everyday.  Being fed by God’s words allows us to grow in the knowledge and grace of God. Our church supports everyone to be fed by His words. The new church location will be filled with bibles, books and resources to help you with your personal devotion and bible study. 

Let’s hear from the children what they do for their own bible study time 

Keira (14): 

When I study the Bible I normally have either a physical notebook or my laptop to take notes of what I have read, and when I’m doing my Sabbath School lesson, I have my notebook and Bible to help answer the questions, and sometimes I have one of Ellen White’s books.

One thing that I cannot do without has to be my laptop, it has almost everything I need, it has an electronic bible, my notebook and many other things that I can use my laptop for.

I study the Bible every morning, and I will normally spend around 20-30 minutes learning and answering my sabbath school lesson. It would take time to be fed by God’s word, but you just need to continually and faithfully spend time reading the bible, praying and wanting to learn as much as you can about His word.

I normally study the Bible every single morning straight after I wake up at around 6:30-7:30am, other than Sabbath, because during sabbath school we go through what we have read and learnt from the lesson. I choose this time to spend time with God because I want to put God first other than the other things I do throughout the day, and my mind is fresh when I wake up since there hasn’t been anything that happened or anything that I have to think and stress about in the morning.

Isabelle (14):

In my opinion, I believe that it is relatively easy to be fed by God’s word, but it is not as easy to “digest” it. Many people in today’s world own a Bible, 9/10 Americans own a Bible, yet many don’t read it. When you read the Bible, it is like eating physical meals. So why do we eat breakfast, lunch, dinner etc.? To give us physical energy to do our physical activities throughout the day like exercise, work, school. Likewise, we should read the Bible as our spiritual food to nourish us and give us good spiritual health. However, we can only receive the good fruits of the Bible when we really try to read and understand it for ourselves, applying it to our life so that we can be changed by reading God’s word. 

When studying the Bible, I use a digital Bible and annotate it digitally, as I don’t like writing on the actual Bible. One thing I probably couldn’t do without it would probably be my note-taking app and apple pencil. Everyday I study the Bible in my devotion and family worship. I think it is incredibly important to study the Bible daily, just as we eat our physical food daily. 

I normally study the Bible in the morning as part of my morning routine. In the morning, I study my Sabbath School lesson which I do for my devotion. I do my devotion in the morning because I think it’s best to start the day with God and I’ve learnt that if we don’t start the day with God, the rest of our day will be a mess. Our family also has family worship, in the morning just before we go to school and at night, just before we sleep. We begin in the morning with reading my brother’s Sabbath School lesson or mine and proceed to share what we have learnt. At night, we share our praises to God and prayer requests. I believe that our family chooses to do worship in the morning because it is important for all of us to come together as a family before God first, before our day gets too busy. At night, it is also important to come before God and give thanks for the day and life that he has given us, rather than just forgetting about God’s providence.

To me, bible study and devotion is built into my morning and evening routine. I would come to the Table of Showbread (my desk) every morning to open the bible and start reading the Word of God. I have my interleaved bible journal, a pen, a pencil and a few highlighters. I would read a chapter of a book and highlight what God had impressed me with that morning. Sometimes I journal my thoughts into the margin of the bible, other times, I write in my notebook. In the evening, I would open the passage that I read in the morning and I would journal how I heard God speaking to me some more. Sometimes I journal in words, and other times, I paint pictures. 

Consistency is the key for me. Once I built bible study and devotion into my routine, it became a habit. I feel refreshed every morning and ready to take on my day. Journaling in the evening also helps me take off my heavy load and lay it at God’s throne of grace. 

Do you study the bible everyday? Is there any tool you like to use when you study the bible? Please leave your comments below.

Blessings,
El