Are Bible Study and Devotional Reading Distinct?
In a seminary class a decade ago, a fellow student, enamored by the evident expertise of our teacher, asked a question: “How do you have time to do devotional reading of Scripture if you study the Bible so much?”
I loved the professor’s response: “If your study of the Bible isn’t devotional then you’re doing it all wrong.”
This student’s question was built on a false premise that the professor dismantled. The student assumed there are two different types of Bible reading. Reading devotionally likely was thought to be reading for personal application, to grow in holiness, to grow in knowledge and intimacy with the Lord, to pray Scripture etc. And studying the Bible was assumed by the student to be this stuffy endeavor where the reader is surrounded by dictionaries, Bible atlases, grammars etc.
The professor revealed that study ought to lead to devotion. You can’t read devotionally unless you’ve studied. Using grammars, dictionaries, and atlases ought to lead to greater holiness, understanding, and obedience. If you don’t study, your devotional reading will remain superficial at best, and get dry over time. The way to maintain fresh and engaging devotional reading of the Scriptures is to study the Bible. Rather than Bible study be dry it is the study of God’s word that revives the soul.
As many have pointed out in the book of Romans, the doxological exclamation at the end of Romans 11—Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!—comes after eleven rich and deep theological chapters. Doctrine leads to doxology, study leads to devotion.
Other students will remember quips from another professor, now semi-retired. He would say “no morphology, no theology,” meaning you need to be able to dissect a Greek or Hebrew word to understand theology, since theology is built on the words of Scripture. Similarly, he would say, “no geography, no theology,” meaning you need to know the geography of the biblical lands to understand, certainly the Old, but also the New Testament. This same professor spent one class on a flight simulator flying us over the land of Israel and pointing out different landmarks! And this professor was notorious for repeating the quip, not original to him, “bury yourself in a lexicon and arise in the presence of God.” That is, it is through deep word study, will one come into the very presence of God.
Don’t confuse study and devotion as opposites. Don’t have distinct times to study the Bible and then to read devotionally. Rather, aim to climb into greater devotion of God through deep Bible study. As Paul says, the knowledge of God is deep and rich. Study and devotion are not exclusive, they are tied at the hip. Your devotion will increase as your study of the Bible increases.
p.s. for those curious, the professors were Jim Hamilton and Peter Gentry who remain exemplary to this day.