[Darris McNeely] One of the best ways to gain the most from your study of the Bible is to ask questions. As you read through Genesis, as you read a Psalm, as you read a Proverb, ask some questions and put yourself into the story, into the narrative, into the statement, and ask, "What should I learn from this? What is God saying to me?  How should I live according to what I am reading?" That's one of the best ways I think for us to take the Bible and its teachings and its stories and all that it has and applying it into our life and putting us into it and making it live within our life, making it something that we want to go back to on a regular basis and learn the most that we possibly can.

Let's take one example. Psalm 15, which is one of the well-known Psalms of the Bible, often looked at as and even called the Psalm - the Gentleman's Psalm. It raises a question at the beginning of verse 1 of Psalm 15. It says, "Lord, who may dwell in Your tabernacle and who may dwell in Your holy hill?" The words who is it upon God looks and who may be in the presence of God, and he goes on to list certain qualities.

"He who walks uprightly, works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart." Verse 3 is the prime area for which we could ask ourselves some of these questions. It says, "He who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend" (Psalm 15:1-5). Ask yourself, "How does this apply in my life? What's God saying to me?" Are you or I someone who may take up a reproach against a friend? Do we backbite with our tongue? If a piece of gossip about someone that we know is brought to us do we pass it on or do we just put it into an envelope and put it into the wastebasket, burn it, whatever, and let it end with us?

Good questions to think about in terms of our own conduct because the answer will help us to understand just how close we may be to God and whether we can even be in His presence. That's the purpose of this Psalm. Learn to ask questions. Learn to put yourself in the picture. That's an effective tool for studying the Bible and letting it then teach us and live within us and draw us closer to God through a study of His word.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.