Why I love my Bible study!

Today is one of those days where I can think about a million things I want to blog about. "One of those days" doesn't happen very often- so I've actually written down a list that I will plow through over time.

I will give you a "what's been happening update" after this weekend- because that (hopefully!) is when the craziness stops a bit. Plus I am blessed to be having a weekend away with my Mum and Sister in the blue mountains- so I can let you know about that too!

But now- why I love my Bible study.

I was excited about joining a Bible study this year. Last year I really felt the loss of a regular chance with friends to catch up and learn together. I realised the error of my ways half way through the year and tried to join one of the groups for College wives. Unfortunately at that stage they were all bursting at the brim and too full, so it was with great excitement that I approached my second chance at the start of this year.

Now for those of you who don't know me well enough to know my faults- I am an academic snob. I am very Bible literate, and greatly struggle with pride associated with this. With this pride comes also a tendency to be lazy in Bible study, and not push myself to be challenged (because I've often thought about or read before what I am being taught). It also leads me to want to answer every question in Bible study to "show off" I self-diagnosed this sin when I was 19 years old through my memorable and wonderful first year at Christian Union student group at Monash Uni. But despite my self-diagnosis, it has been a constant struggle and I suspect will remain so.

The idea of being in a Bible study run by "College Lecturer's wives" and other "College wives's" appealed because I assumed the studies would be high brow and academic.

But this is what I found.

The studies so far have been on James and the topic of "the church"- two things that I am very familiar with. The things that we discuss, the answers that we come to, are most of the time ones that I already knew or things I already thought.

And yet, it's been wonderful!

Because often the conclusions are conclusions I've known, but never lived out. For example, in our first study on church we came to the conclusion- based on many passages but particularly Romans 12:1 that we needed to live our whole lives as "worship" to God. This was something I knew. But as the study ended I realised how little I lived it out! I don't wake up in the morning thinking about all the different ways I will be worshiping God that day. I don't do the dishes, write my novel or ride the train in a way that acknowledges the one I'm serving. I do think of ministry and church as my worship time and not the rest. What a challenge!

And not only that- I am in a group of very different women. We have a Grandma, a Mother of young adults, and a Mother of young kids. We have a lawyer, a nurse and a PA. We have people studying, teaching and ministering the gospel. All different. All sharing their lives, their wisdom, their struggles, their joys and their prayer points each week.

I am so thankful to God for my Bible study. Once again, my good God has not given me what I expected or what I asked for, but just what I needed. He is like that!
love B
PS For those of you who also struggle with being Bible snobs- two things I have found helpful in a Bible study context. The first is thinking before I answer a question- am I just answering this to show off? The second is even if I'm not, I only ever answer half the questions I want to, to keep myself from dominating. Still not perfect, but I've found it a great help!