Welcome to Day 1459 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to WisdomBible Study – Its Aim Is Not Ignorance – Meditation MondayWisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1459 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind. 
We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our first few insights will focus on study habits to build a strong foundation. Today let us meditate on:
Bible Study – Its Aim Is Not Ignorance·      Insight Thirteen: The Aim of Bible Study is the Meaning of the Text, Not a Defense of Your ViewThe Bible is God’s Word—a repository of truths and information that, through human authors, God wanted to be preserved for posterity. Since the Bible is one of God’s means to transform our lives and direct our behavior, those who hold it in esteem have an emotional investment in it. They believe that it’s the expression of God’s will, not only for faith but also practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Given all that’s riding on Bible study, it’s not hard to see why people who engage in it seriously sometimes argue about the results. Disagreements aren’t about an intellectual victory. Right and wrong are at stake; at least that’s the ideal. Sometimes that’s accurate. Other times it’s exaggerated.
Knowing precisely what the Bible means at every turn would require omniscience. Several passages are ambiguous. God knows omniscience isn’t an attribute we possess. Consequently, assigning a point of morality to every interpretive decision is unwise. It may sound sacrilegious, but a lot of the Bible—and hence, Bible study—doesn’t have a moral issue in view.I’ve met many Christians who are so desperate to make sure their behavior is right and not wrong that they end up becoming better at arguing for what their family or tradition tells them a verse means than actually studying the matter for themselves. I’ve seen relationships destroyed over conflicting Bible interpretations where no core doctrinal teaching was at stake. I’ve seen believers driven to despair when friends or family members make an interpretation a litmus test for good standing before them, and even before God.
The goal of Bible study shouldn’t be about finding ammunition to make someone guilty, or shaming someone on the other side of a disagreement. It isn’t about finding ways to crush opposition or force a spiritual submission. You aren’t the Holy Spirit. It’s often better to kindly share what you believe and its basis in Scripture and then privately take your concerns to the Lord.
·      Insight Fourteen: Ignorance is Not a Gift of the SpiritIn this era of social media, we’ve all been exposed to people who have a knack for irritating and offending people they’ve never met. If you peruse comments on blogs or online forums to...