I love good Bible interpretation, and want to know what the original author meant to communicate when I read the Bible. Sometimes, however, that can lead to me neglecting the personal application aspect.
Based on content from Tim Keller, here are five questions you can ask when you’re reading the Bible to make it personal to your life: (Thanks to Steve McCoy)
- How can I praise God? Since the Bible is fundamentally about God, what does this passage I’m reading tell me about Him? How can I worship as a response?
- How can I confess my sins on the basis of this text? What does this passage tell me about living under God’s authority? Where have I rebelled against that?
- If this is really true, what wrong behavior, what harmful emotions or false attitudes result in me when I forget this? Every problem is because you have forgotten something. What problems am I facing?
- What should I be aspiring to on the basis of this text? How does this give me a vision for what God wants me to experience, live out, or enjoy about Him?
- God, why are you telling me this today? Is there a connection between my life circumstance and what I am reading? Why? Is God speaking in a direct way to a decision I need to make?
Bob Wriedt 