The heart of the Bible student must be the opposite of what is found in those Bible scholars Jesus was talking to in John 5:39:
Ye search the scriptures, for ye think that in them ye have life eternal, and they it is which bear witness concerning me.The Scriptures testify of Christ, but it is possible to study, to search the Scriptures thoroughly, and still not hear them "bear witness concerning" the Lord Jesus. You can study the Bible for a wrong reason or with a corrupt heart, and you will miss the very purpose of all Scripture—they testify of Christ.
Our heart in studying is just the opposite. We are searching the Scriptures still, but it is to find Christ and gain all through Him. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and now we crave the milk of the word of God (1 Peter 2:2). Studying extra is the craving of the word.
This heart of the Bible student is the desire "to know Him," as Paul said in Philippians 3 though he obviously knew Christ already.
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing" (Proverbs 25:2). In this relationship with the Bible student and the Teacher, there is a searching-out that happens. The Lord has hidden many bits of himself in His word. It is a glory to search them out and discover the Lord's treasures!
At the end of Paul's life, he requested Timothy to especially bring his parchments—the books that were most likely Scriptures. He already knew that he had the crown and had finished his race, yet he still wanted to study the word of God to find more of Him.
When we study the Bible, and especially as we set ourselves to study more thoroughly, we aim to discover more of Christ. This is the heart of a student of the Bible.
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