Ever heard someone say something about the Bible that just feels wrong, but you can’t figure out why?
I have this very thing happen to me occasionally. Maybe in a conversation with another person I’ll have something I believe challenged, and maybe even with what appears to be a plausible argument. But deep down in my heart I know what they are saying can’t be right. Still, at the moment all I have to go on is a feeling—which is simply not enough for me.
So while feeling conflicted, I ask myself, “Why do I feel the way I do?”
Well, here’s the neat thing about studying any subject, especially the Bible: The more of it you take in, the more it guides your conscience—your heart. The reason you feel like something is wrong is because maybe there is something you studied several years ago that has become a part of your existence. You may not be able to immediately recall what it is, or verbalize it intelligently, but it’s there, embedded in your mind. That’s how God’s Word helps keep us from sinning (cf. Psalm 119:11). We may not necessarily be able to quote book, chapter, and verse concerning a particular sin, but we “know it’s in there!"
What solves the feeling problem for me? Reviewing my notes. I have pretty extensive notes in the forms of sermons, Bible classes, snippets with insights or quotes, web clippings, Kindle highlights, and other documents that I have collected in my Evernote account (amounting to nearly 6,000 notes at this writing).
When I get that feeling, I’m easily able to go back to my Evernote account and search for words, verses, or tags which might answer my question. Nine times out of ten I find some article I read, sermon I preached, or insight I recorded which explains why I feel the way I do. Were it not for taking good notes, I might wander around with that mysterious “unsettled” feeling, instead of being able to review exactly what I was thinking when I made the decision about what I believe on that certain subject.
My encouragement to you: Take good notes. Create a Bible note binder, or integrate the Bullet Journal into your Bible study. Evernote is an excellent choice for this. Whatever you do, write (or type) your notes! Save clippings of articles. Mark the pages of the books you read with sticky notes. Do something to remember. You may not appreciate it at the time, and it may even seem tedious. But I guarantee that when the day comes that a question rattles you, or your beliefs are shaken a little, you’ll definitely appreciate having those notes to consult.
-Daniel
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