Moving beyond Scripture mining

In line with Tuesday's post on truth-trail preaching, here are a few related thoughts via Ramblings from the Moderately Informed (HT: Swap Blog):

I recently criticized a bumper sticker that said "The Bible: Life's Instruction Manual" while riding in the car with Daphne. "Insulting," I said, "I'm sure God appreciates his Holy Word being brought down to the value of an instruction manual." I was right, I think, but I often miss the point myself. If I really get it, why do I open the pages of my Bible hoping only to find a new "teachable" Bible truth?

We shouldn't be turning to Scripture to find sermons, sermon outlines, or Sunday School lessons. We should be turning to Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can reveal our own deadness and the life provided in Jesus Christ so that we are equipped to share that message with anyone who will listen to us.

Amen. Bible study's not about mining nuggets of truth from the Scripture and "applying" them to the surface of our lives. It's about letting the Word mine the depths of our souls to forge us into the new creations God has made Christians to be.