The Study Watchtower, "Article 7", Week of April 10 to 16, 2023, Let's get the most out of reading the Bible, Answers.

The Study Watchtower, "Article 7", April 10-16, 2023, Let's get the most out of reading the Bible, Answers.

“What is written in the Law? What do you read in it? (Luke 10:26).

1. What evidence do we have that the Scriptures were important to Jesus?

Jesus quoted the Word of God by heart, which proves the importance of the Scriptures for Jesus, which was always on his mind, in fact, his first words after baptism, as we see in Deuteronomy, that every person lives on everything that proceeds from the mouth of Jehovah.

2. What helped Jesus to know the Scriptures well while growing up? (See cover drawing.)

Surely at home he heard Mary and Joseph quoting from the Scriptures when they talked as a family and the text of Luke 4:16 makes it very clear that he went to the synagogue every Saturday with his family and paid close attention to reading the Scriptures. Surely this helped him to know well what the Scriptures said and to love them, allowing them to have a great effect on him.

ILLUSTRATION

Series of images: 1. Jesus as a child listens to his parents. 2. Jesus is already a teenager and is with his family in the synagogue. Everyone listens attentively to the reading of the Scriptures. 3. Jesus is now a grown man and is reading a scroll of Scripture. During his lifetime, Jesus demonstrated that he loved the Scriptures and allowed them to influence his actions. (See paragraph 2).

3. What will we see in this article?

We will see what Jesus said to those who knew the Law very well in order to get the most out of our reading of the Bible. 

And what Jesus said to the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees will help us better understand what we read, discover more spiritual treasures and let the Word of God influence us even more.

WE UNDERSTAND WHAT WE READ

4. What does Luke 10:25-29 teach us about our reading of the Bible?

We see that the man in the text did not really understand what he was reading so he could not put it into practice. This teaches us that we must really understand what we read in order to get the most out of it and to be able to put it into practice in our daily lives in a correct way.

We can all learn to better understand what we read

5. Why does praying and reading slowly help us to better understand the message of the Bible?

Because in this way we can assimilate the information that we read and read aloud or play the recording of the reading of the Bible while we read it will help us to get into the story and this will cause the information to be recorded in our minds and hearts.

6. What are the benefits of asking questions and taking brief notes while reading the Bible? (See also pictures).

The questions will help us to think and concentrate on the main ideas and putting it in writing forces us to put the ideas in order which helps us to better understand what we have read and that it is recorded in our minds, and if we do this when reading the Bible we will feel that Jehovah is speaking to us personally.

ILLUSTRATION

Picture series: 1. A sister writes a note to put in her Bible. 2. A brother studies an article on her tablet. He highlights some words and creates his notes. 3. A sister reads the Bible in the JW Library app. She highlights some words and creates her notes. Why do short notes help us better understand what we read and remember it? (See paragraph 6).

7. What quality do we need when reading the Bible, and why? (Matthew 24:15).

We need discernment, that is, the ability to see how ideas are related to each other and the difference between them and also to see beyond what is obvious.

As Jesus said, discernment will help us see what certain events fulfill Bible prophecies and make the most of everything we read in the Bible.

8. What can we do to read with discernment?

We must pray to Jehovah and ask him to help us develop this quality. It will also help us a lot to slowly analyze what we read and see how it relates to what we already know.

We have many publications that if we consult them we will be able to perceive the meaning of the Bible stories and we will also see how to put into practice everything we learn.

LET'S DISCOVER SPIRITUAL TREASURES

9. What fundamental truth did the Sadducees overlook?

We see that they wanted to trap Jesus but the question that Jesus asked them showed that even though they had surely read the story many times, they overlooked a very important biblical teaching that was the resurrection.

And this is something that can also happen to us if we read without discernment, so we must get the most out of our Bible reading so as not to overlook biblical teachings.

10. What should we be aware of when we read the Bible?

We must be very aware of everything that a verse or a story can teach us and not remain on the surface when we read since we want to discover the deep truths and principles that we find in the Bible.

11. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, how can we search for spiritual treasures in the Bible?

The text says that all Scripture is useful for teaching, censoring, rectifying things and educating, so we must analyze what we read to see what it teaches us about Jehovah.

For a story to be useful for censorship, we must look for anything in it that helps to identify and reject our bad tendencies and attitudes, and we must also look for it to help us remain faithful to Jehovah.

A passage from the Bible can help us rectify or correct a wrong point of view or something that was told to us in preaching.

And for a story to educate us, we must look for everything that helps us think like Jehovah in order to act as He wants and desires.

We must keep these four ideas in mind because they will help us discover more spiritual treasures that will enrich our reading of the Bible.

MAY THE READING OF THE BIBLE INFLUENCE US

12. Why did Jesus ask the Pharisees if they had not read what the Scriptures said?

Because as we read in Matthew 12:1-7, the Pharisees accused Jesus' disciples of violating the Sabbath law, but the only thing they demonstrated is that they did not understand the purpose of that law and that they had acted without compassion.

With this accusation they showed that they read the word of God but it did not influence them because they were proud and read it only to criticize others, which prevented them from understanding the true meaning of what they read.

13. What attitude should we have when we read the Bible, and why?

We must be humble and let Jehovah teach us. As it says in James 1:21 we must gently accept that the word takes root in us and if we are gentle we will allow the word of God to take root in our hearts. Because only if we have this attitude of mildness will we allow what the Bible teaches us about mercy, compassion and love to sink deep into our hearts.

14. How can we know if we are letting the Bible influence us? (See also pictures).

We know this by the way we treat others. If we only look at the defects of others and are critical and resentful, our hearts will be closed to the message of the word of Jehovah as it happened to the Pharisees.

We should be in the habit of talking about the good qualities of others and always be willing to forgive Jehovah as this will reflect that we are letting the Bible influence what we think, feel and do.

ILLUSTRATION

How can we know if we are letting the Word of God influence us? (See paragraph 14).

READING THE BIBLE MAKES US HAPPY

15. How did Jesus feel about the Holy Scriptures?

In Psalm 40:8 it says "your law is in the depths of my being" which shows that Jesus loved the Scriptures and this helped him to be happy and continue to serve Jehovah and we will achieve the same if we make an effort to read the Bible and love it.

16. What do you plan to do to get the most out of reading the Bible? (See the box “The Words of Jesus Help Us Understand What We Read.”)

In this article we have analyzed many tips that will help us get the most out of our daily reading of the Bible, such as Praying to Jehovah, reading slowly, asking me questions, reading with discernment, consulting our publications.

The words of Jesus help us understand what we read

Let's strive to understand what we read and cultivate discernment to know how to put the information into practice (Matt. 24:15; Luke 10:25-37).

Let's carefully analyze the Bible stories to discover spiritual treasures (Mark 12:18-27).

Let the Word of God influence us and how we treat others (Matt. 12:1-8).

HE REMEMBERS?

What will help you better understand what you read in the Bible?

The first thing we should do is pray to Jehovah before starting to read and read with discernment, without haste, since that way we can get into the story and better understand what we are reading.

Also ask us questions and brief notes that help us order the ideas and get more into the story.

What can you do to discover spiritual treasures?

Be very aware of everything that a verse or a story can teach us and not stay on the surface when we read.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 says that all Scripture is useful for teaching, censoring, rectifying things and educating so we must analyze what we read to see what it teaches us about Jehovah.

What can you do to be influenced by God's Word?

We must be humble and let Jehovah teach us and as it says in James 1:21 we must calmly accept that the word take root in us because if we are calm we will let the word of God sink deep in us.