3 Nephi 23-26

Our lesson this week considered how we might increase the depth and diligence of our personal scripture study ... 

"When Jesus Christ visited the people in the Americas, He taught the value and importance of the scriptures. He commanded the Nephites to diligently search the scriptures (see 3 Nephi 23:1–5). This command to search implies more than casual reading."

We first considered our motivation to study the scriptures.  We started by reviewing some quotations about scripture study.  President Thomas S. Monson has said:

"As we remember prayer and take time to turn to the scriptures, our lives will be infinitely more blessed and our burdens will be made lighter."

As we reviewed quotes, class members returned again and again to this quote by Elder Mervin B. Arnold:

The second facet which we focused on was about the "how" of studying the scriptures.  We concluded that we are accustomed to our annual blocks of study, be it a Sunday School course, a Relief Society or Priesthood curriculum, or an Institute course of study.  We spent some time discussing smaller blocks of study and how to make them more meaningful.

We started with "nourishing snacks" - ways of using a 10 or 15 minute scripture-study block to do something more than a reading exercise.  Some ways we noted were:

• Substitute your name - find a scripture that gives you encouragement or hope or speaks to a need you have now.  Write the scripture out, substituting your name into the scripture.
• Memorisation - find a scripture mastery verse, or a meaningful scripture, and memorise it.
• Music - spend the time listening to and pondering the words of a meaningful hymn.
• Be Still and Know (that I am God) - Light a candle and sit next to it for 5 minutes, reflecting on being still and listening to the voice of God.
• Choose a topic - select a topic from the Bible Dictionary and read and ponder some scriptures from the topic. How about one scripture from each volume of scripture?
• Meditating - spending some time pondering a specific verse of scripture
• Create an inspirational nuggets journal - keep mini-journalling cards and write out short scriptures on a theme - such as "gratitude".
• Map it out! - find a map and see where a scriptural event took place.  For example, the story of Johan in the Old testament (Jonah 1 - 3) gains depth when we know that the city of Nineveh was located close to modern-day Iraq and that Tarshish might have been located in modern-day Spain!

We expanded our discussion to "short intensives" - intensive scripture study blocks that can take from a fortnight to a quarter (three months). Some ideas to consider here included:

• Read a Book (of scripture) - plan to spend several weeks studying one book of scripture intensely.  Read and re-read the book.  Then divide it into sections that make sense together (these may or may not correspond with chapters!). Study these sections by observation (what is their message?) understanding (looking up meanings of words, find similar passages in the scriptures, etc), interpretation (what does this mean?) and application (what does this mean to me?)
• Study a Word - Spend time studying a word, like faith, in the scriptures, in modern revelation, in the writings of prophets and apostles.
• Biographical Study - study one person throughout the scriptures (i.e. everywhere they're mentioned).  Ponder why this person is important, what God says about this person and this this persons' choices can inform your life.
• Use a Guided Journal - there are some guided journals which don't interpret scriptures but which simply highlight scriptures for reflection - try one!

Finally, we addressed ourselves and the scriptures.  Using some of the many photographs which show individuals studying the scriptures, class members posed for their own unique "scriptures and me" photographs. 

As you ponder this lesson, start by finding a quote that motivates you to study scriptures, or which gives meaning to

the practise of scripture study.  Then, write down ways you can enjoy nourishing snacks on days when your scripture study routine is upside-down.  And finally, put yourself into the picture of scripture study by either taking a self-portrait of you and your scriptures, or having someone photography you with your scriptures!

Resources:

D Todd Christofferson : The Blessing Of Scripture
Richard G. Scott : The Power of Scripture
Elder Michael John U. Teh : The Power of the Word of God