Have you ever seen a pastor intentionally rip pages out of a Bible and drop them on the floor?
Merry did. And it was a defining moment in her life.
It was at a youth camp and the pastor was using the shocking visual of ripped Bible pages as an object lesson. He tore out portions of Scripture if the students demonstrated that they didn’t have knowledge about the contents of those sections. That day, Merry realized how little of Scripture she actually knew—and how important it was that she honor God by getting to know His Word better. And knowing and finding joy in His Word became the catalyst for her deepening relationship with God Himself.
Fast forward to 1988. Merry was a young wife and mother participating in a Precept class that was held at her church. The class offered free childcare, and as a former schoolteacher, Merry enjoyed the structure that the Precept studies offered.
The classes ended up being an answer to prayer.
Merry says, “I had already been praying since that camp experience that God would create a hunger and thirst for His Word. I had the desire and Precept provided the opportunity.”
The Precept inductive Bible study method has since become the only study method Merry has ever known. Other non-inductive studies that she’s been a part of don’t provide the tools to help people understand what God is really saying. She says that these other studies often devolve into guessing at the meaning of God’s Word, with interpretations based on experience rather than on Scripture itself. These interactions leave the participants frustrated and lacking confidence that they can truly understand God’s Word.
In contrast, because of Precept, Merry has been given the tools she needs to discover what God’s Word actually means in its context. She says that “learning to study His Word allows me to seek and find Him with a greater intimacy.”
Merry continues, “[Learning to study His Word] prepares my mind for the testing that will strengthen my faith and ready my character for His next assignment. It replaces my thoughts with higher thoughts and opens my ears and eyes to see where He is already working all things for the good.”
Merry has now been a Precept Bible study leader for 20+ years. She says that she has been challenged, shaped, and sustained by the many years of teaching the Bible. She is thankful for Precept Ministries and for its co-founder Kay Arthur, saying that Kay Arthur’s influence has “made the way for so many others to experience [God’s] rest through knowing how to meet Him in the pages of His Word.”
And isn’t knowing God what it’s all about?
You can help others like Merry deepen their relationship with God through a greater knowledge of His Word.
Make an investment in eternity and partner with Precept today!
